Second Chances
by Parvx
Summary: AU Dumbledore has been keeping a secret from Harry and Severus for the past 13 years. When Harry goes to Severus in his 3rd year a few days after freeing Sirius, they find out something extraordinary together. Harry needs protection and training now more than ever which leads Dumbledore to reveal his secret. 1-3 chapters a week. No horcruxes besides one in Harry.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

* * *

Severus Snape paced his office on Friday thinking back on the night he had just endured. He remembered seeing Lupin transform while feeling panic he hadn't felt in years when the fully grown werewolf looked like he was about to pounce on Potter. Ironically Severus still shielded the 3 teenagers behind himself even after they had just disarmed him and blasted him into a wall. What was bothering Severus so much was the fact that Potter had protected Sirius from hundreds of dementors. This was not possible from a 13 year old, nor from any grown adult. A feat like this could really only mean one thing, the boy had tremendous power that he hasn't discovered yet and that he could be part of a very rare wizarding category.

A few days later when everything had settled down a little after Black had as the rumours stated, escaped on what looked like a flying Hippogriff, Severus heard a knock on his office door.

"Enter", Severus said coldly, being in no mood to talk to some idiotic student.

To Severus's surprise, Harry Potter was standing behind the open door looking very nervous, even a little scared.

"Sir, would you mind if I come in and speak to you?", Harry said looking downwards to avoid making eye contact with the Professor who loathed him.

"Fine, Potter. Make it quick, I have better things to do with my time.", Severus replied absently. Normally he would have sent him away but he did wonder what Potter could possibly have to say to him.

"I have been thinking about what happened and I thought that I should apologise for turning against you in the shrieking shack. I don't regret that I acted like this but I know it was out of line when you were just trying to save us." Harry bit his lip as he watched Snape's expression turn from cold to sour.

What is the boy getting at? Perhaps Dumbledore told him to apologise, why else would he be acting like this when the two clearly shared a mutual feeling of hatred.

"Why are you apologising, Potter? Aren't you happy that you got your way once again? The boy who lived, attacks a teacher and doesn't get punished, you must be truly pleased with yourself. This all shows how much you abuse your fame and how arrogant you are just like your father." Severus, although still furious at the boy for turning on him, felt the anger he had diminish slightly when he saw the hurt expression on Potter's face. Maybe he had been genuine after all? No, this was just another scheme of his to wrap him around his finger as well.

"I am apologising because I simply feel like I should." Harry felt his temper rising slightly because of the remark Snape made about his father. Harry had never understood exactly why Snape hated him so much, and because of Hermione's advice and a curiosity within him, he was determined to find out exactly why the Potions Master loathed him so much. He was sick of being humiliated in Potions class and of the sneers and insults constantly thrown at him in the hallways by the Slytherin's. "And now that we are already in a conversation where my father is involved again, tell me, what exactly makes you say these things about my father? What did he do to make you think he is so arrogant? My father was a great man", Harry demanded.

Severus was beginning to feel his temper shorten. How could the boy have the audacity to speak to him in such a disrespectful manner after everything that happened in the previous night. Then again, Severus did treat him ten times worse during class ever since that night, perhaps Potter wants to stop losing so many house points each Potions class. As much as Severus would like to shout at the boy about how horrible his father had been, he couldn't let himself reveal that part of his miserable life, it would show vulnerability and weakness.

"That is none of your business, Potter. And I suggest you start taking on a different tone. You will be sure to regret otherwise", he snapped.

Harry felt himself lose control of his temper because of the unfairness in the conversation. Snape humiliated him every chance he could and Harry was not going to take this treatment any longer without knowing what he was even doing that irritated the Potions Master so much.

"So basically, sir, you won't tell me what I am doing that makes you treat me like you do? Harry questioned.

"Your mere existence and the way you act makes me treat you how I do, everyone else is blind to your arrogance and attention-seeking self therefore I am the one who has to teach you some discipline."

When these words came out of Severus's mouth, a realisation hit him. He remembered the day in his fifth year when those insufferable Marauders went against him and humiliated him in front of the whole school. Lily had come to his defense and asked James why he treated her best friend like this, James responded saying that Severus's existence was excuse enough to bully him. Wasn't Severus doing the exact same thing with Potter now? Was a past grudge really worth the very hurt look he was getting from the 13 year old in front of him? Minerva and Albus often told him that he was only seeing what he wanted to see in Potter when he was going on a more harsh rant about him than usual in the staff room. Severus thought to himself that he must treat Potter like this because of his position as spy so he ignored the push he was getting somewhere inside of himself to talk to Potter properly.

"Clearly trying to reason with you is useless, sorry to have bothered you, _sir._ ", Harry practically spat the word sir as he turned his back to Snape and stormed out of the door. Harry resigned to the fact that it was pointless in trying to better his relationship with his Professor. He was not going to stand there and try to be reasonable only to be continually insulted.

Before Severus could react and reply, Harry was gone and although Severus wouldn't admit it to himself, he felt a small amount of regret at that conversation because he felt he was no better than James himself.

* * *

For the rest of the day Severus thought deeply about his conversation with Potter and was beginning to see a bit more of Lily in him. She always wanted to make things right and she didn't have a problem apologising to anyone and because of this Severus told himself that he would be a little bit less harsh on the boy during the next few Potions classes to show that he was considering what Harry had said about being treated so terribly.

On Thursday which was 3 days after their unsuccessful conversation Severus had double Potions as last class in the evening with his 3rd year students. He groaned as he made his way to his Potions classroom not looking forward to attempting to keep his control with Potter for the 2 hours of class he had with him.

As the children filed into the classroom and took their usual seats, Severus was sitting at the front of the room glaring at them, daring them to step a toe out of line.

Harry was not looking forward to Potions. He had the feeling that he was going to have a very hard time getting on with his Professor after their conversation the last day.

"Settle yourselves and turn to the chapter on Shrinking Potions. For half of the class you will read this chapter and take notes on the uses of Shrinking Potions, for the second half of the class you will attempt to brew the potion. Instructions are on the board.", Snape said monotonously.

After 45 minutes of note taking, Snape told them to start gathering the necessary ingredients and begin brewing. As Snape went past Harry's cauldron, Harry could feel his insides squirm. He was waiting for insults to be made but surprisingly his Professor walked past his cauldron without a reaction at all. At the end of class, they were to fill a glass vial with their potion and bring it to Snape's desk. Usually, Harry didn't even get to this point so he was feeling quite happy with himself.

"Mr. Potter, you will stay back after class. I would like a word."

Harry felt the vial he was bringing to Snape slip out of his hand and smash to the floor. He immediately flushed a deep colour of red in embarrassment. Meanwhile Severus was quite amused that his words intimidated Harry like this. Sighing, he made his way over to the smashed glass and potion. _"Evanesco"_ he muttered and the potion and glass disappeared.

Harry brought a new vial to the front and sat back down at his seat waiting for everyone to leave while his stomach was doing flip-flops.

"Mr. Potter, I have thought about the events of the past few weeks. You fought off hundreds of dementors without help, correct?"

Harry nodded not knowing what that has to do with anything, but also realising that the Professor was completely ignoring their conversation from a few days ago, to his relief.

"Then, with your permission, I would like to test out a spell on you. It is called the Imperius Curse, I assume you know what it does?", Severus was trying very hard to bite back some nasty retorts that he had ready.

"It allows the caster to control the person it is being cast on? Sir, why do you want to test out a spell like this on me?"

"If you can fight off this spell, it would give the Order necessary information about where your power can reach to." Snape said trying his best to remain stoic.

"The Order, sir?"

"The Order of the Phoenix, it is a secret organisation formed by Dumbledore to fight off Voldemort. You will not speak of the Order around anyone and you will not repeat this conversation to your insufferable friends, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir", Harry agreed grudgingly. He hated keeping things from Ron and Hermione but the alternative is having Snape find out that he told them and he was much less prepared to deal with that.

"Do you wish to test out if you can resist the spell?"

Harry thought about it before nodding in agreement, Snape obviously seemed quite eager to test this out and he had been abnormally "nice" to him during Potions. He didn't want to anger his Professor or give him more reason to hate him. Harry was also very curious about this, if it was reason enough for Snape to spend unnecessary time with him then it must be quite important.

"Right. When you are under the Imperius curse, you will try to resist whatever I tell you to do. You have 5 seconds to prepare yourself"

"5 seco-" Harry stuttered before being cut off.

 _"Imperio"_

Harry felt warmth spread throughout his body, he felt all his worries disappear and wanted to do nothing but follow the voice in his head. "Bow down" Harry did so and then felt the warmth disappear only to be replaced by the familiar cold voice.

"Useless. You are-" Snape started sneering before getting cut off.

"Let me try again, sir. I know what it feels like now. I can fight it. "

If it weren't for the very determined look that Severus was getting, he would have declined.

"Don't dare cut me off like that again. 10 points from Gryffindor for your blatant disrespect." Snape said while narrowing his eyes. "You will be given 1 more attempt at this, ready yourself"

 _"Imperio"_

This time Harry was prepared. The voice came to his head "Kneel down in front of me and bow" Harry could feel his body wanting to do so, as if an invisible hand was pushing him down. He was almost kneeling when something extraordinary happened. Images of all of the times he was humiliated by Snape flashed through his head making him furious with a new kind of determination to go against the Professors wishes. He wanted to anything but listen to what his Professor said out of sheer anger towards him.

"NO" Harry bellowed and the force he was feeling to make him kneel disappeared replaced by the feeling of immense power flowing through his body.

A powerful wave of energy rippled through the classroom and Snape got knocked backwards and fell to the ground. Harry also fell, panting as the power he felt in himself diminished. Harry felt very tired and didn't have the strength to stand up yet.

Severus, although being blasted back by Potter for the second time in a week felt something he was not accustomed to. He felt proud of Potter and Severus himself felt quite accomplished for bringing out this kind of magic in him.

And although neither of them knew it yet, together they had just unlocked a little bit of Harry's tremendously powerful magic that was hidden in his subconscious mind.

* * *

Hey to anyone who is reading this, it is my first story on here and generally my first time writing a piece like this so bear with me. I would really appreciate reviews to make chapters better. I will probably release 1 or 2 chapters each week for now since I have a lot of time on my hands this year. Thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"NO" Harry bellowed and the force he was feeling to make him kneel disappeared replaced by the feeling of immense power flowing through his body.

A powerful wave of energy rippled through the classroom and Snape got knocked backwards and fell to the ground. Harry also fell, panting as the power he felt in himself diminished.

Severus, although being blasted back by Potter for the second time in a week, felt something he was not accustomed to. He felt proud of Potter and Severus himself felt quite accomplished. He also felt absolutely flabbergasted because this basically confirmed his theory of Harry being in a powerful wizarding category.

And although neither of them knew it yet, together they had just unlocked a bit of Harry's tremendously powerful magic that was hidden in his subconscious mind.

* * *

They both got up and looked at each other in an uncomfortable silence. Harry was wondering why he wasn't being yelled at for blasting Snape to the ground and Severus was trying to conceal his newfound astonishment. He could even call himself a little excited.

"It pains me to say this but you have done well. You may ask me questions if you have any."

Harry nodded politely "Professor, what happened when I broke the connection of the curse? It felt like something was pulsing through my body and in the classroom."

"That, Mr. Potter was the magic in you reacting to your emotions. I assume you felt very angry before the connection broke?"

"Yes, sir. I started viewing memories that made me furious. I wanted nothing but to go against what your voice was telling me to do and then I felt a burst of something, it felt like a balloon popped inside of me."

"It seems I am correct then. You should expect to be called to meet Dumbledore soon, he will answer any more questions that you may have. For now, you are dismissed."

Severus watched as Potter slowly made his way to the door after he gathered his books. Just when Potter was almost out of the door he turned.

"Thank you for giving me a second chance, sir." Harry did not give Snape time to reply since he had a feeling he was pushing his luck by being too kind.

When Harry left and closed the door Severus smirked to himself and whispered "20 points for Gryffindor" for the first time in his life.

* * *

Severus was left behind thinking to himself. The boy had been able to do something on his second try which others can only do with years of practice, if at all. And with that, Severus set off to have a very long discussion with Dumbledore.

"Liquorice wands", Severus muttered irritably. Why Dumbledore came up with these ridiculous passwords was always a wonder to him.

Severus knocked on the door to the Headmasters office and waited.

"Come in. Ah, Severus, to what do I owe the pleasure?", said a calm voice.

Severus was already frustrated at the overboard kindness before he even said a word to the Headmaster.

"I have come to talk to you about Potter. He has-" Severus started before being cut off for the second time in a day.

"Severus, we have talked about him many times, I have to tell you again, you are only seeing what you want to see in him. If you took time to get to know him a little, you would realise that he resembles Lily much more than you realise."

Severus narrowed his eyes in annoyance "As much as I would love to argue with you on that, I have come because I have noticed very peculiar happenings around the boy. Firstly, as if this wasn't noticeable enough, he warded off hundreds of dementors without help and with only one patronus. This is not possible no matter how experienced you are."

"Yes I have given that a lot of thought too, Harry acted out of unconditional love and affection for his godfather which is where he drew this kind of magical power from."

"Perhaps when I show you what I have discovered today, you will stop being so daft. I assume you have your pensieve present?"

Albus nodded and with the flick of his wand a long cupboard opened with the pensieve on a thick stone pillar. The two men made their way to the pensieve and Severus extracted a thin, wispy silver thread from his temple. He placed the memory in the pensieve and motioned for Albus to go ahead and view the memory.

As Albus was viewing the memory, Severus was bracing himself for being stabbed with Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes when he finds out that he used the Imperius curse on Harry. He sat down on the chair which he so often finds himself in and waited.

When Dumbledore emerged from the pensieve he was considerably paler.

"I cannot say that I am happy that you have taken this action without asking or at least notifying me. However this is definitely very important, would I be correct in assuming that you think that Harry is a Mage?"

Severus nodded slightly, relieved that he was not being yelled at.

"I would like to suggest that we, perhaps, perform a Legacy spell on Potter. This would tell us exactly what kind of abilities he has and how powerful he really can be. If he is what we think he is, this must be kept hidden and the boy must be trained to slowly discover his magic while learning to control it." Severus said reluctantly, he didn't want to admit that Potter has anything special about him that he can use to brag even more.

"I suppose that is reasonable but I wish to speak with the boy first. You know how to perform a legacy spell? They haven't been cast since the dark ages, and for good reason at that."

"Indeed. It is complicated but I believe I have the knowledge to perform the spell properly."

"Very well. I will tell Harry to come to my office after breakfast on Saturday. If he is willing to go ahead, I will floo your office."

—

On Saturday morning when Harry, Ron and Hermione were on their way to breakfast, Dumbledore stopped them before the Great Hall. Not much to Harry's surprise, he was asked to go to his office after eating breakfast. Already, Harry had a fair notion of what this meeting was going to be about.

"I'm sure he just wants to ask if you are alright, you did battle an unforgivable curse after all", Hermione said, trying to be helpful.

Harry nodded doubtfully before Ron brought his thoughts somewhere else by talking about the upcoming quidditch world championships.

After breakfast, Harry reluctantly made his way to Dumbledore's office. He had a tingling feeling in his stomach.

"Come in, Harry", said Dumbledore cheerfully.

Harry walked in and sat down on the chair that Dumbledore was motioning to.

"I believe you know why I have called you here this morning" Dumbledore said getting straight to the point. "Professor Snape has told me about your ability to fight off the Imperious Curse and we both have come up with a way to find out exactly what kinds of abilities you have besides being able to speak parseltongue. We believe that you possess many more magical traits and with your permission of course, we can perform a spell that will reveal your hidden abilities."

"I.. Professor, what exactly will happen to me when you cast the spell on me? Will it hurt?" Harry said sceptically.

Dumbledore let out a quiet chuckle. "No Harry it won't hurt, when we cast the spell titles will start forming around you. For example, one title that will definitely form around you will be "Parselmouth - ability to talk to snakes". Professor Snape will be the one performing the spell on you since he has more knowledge on the spell. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes, sir." Once again, Harry became very curious as to what may be concealed in him, even though he doubted there was much. "When will we be doing this?"

"Right now if you are comfortable with that" said Dumbledore softly.

Harry nodded and Dumbledore went through a door and made his way over to his fireplace. A minute later Dumbledore came back into the office with Snape closely behind him.

"Stand up, Potter." Snape said coldly and pointed for him to stand in a spot which had more space. Harry obliged and found himself very nervous. "When I cast this spell on you, I will be the only one to see the abilities, if any, that you possess. Dumbledore and yourself may then view a memory that I will provide so you can see for yourselves. Prepare yourself."

"Legatum Revelare!" Snape said while doing a very complicated series of wand movements.

Severus was seeing the impossible. Potter has a bit of every wizarding category; There was a huge bubble beside his shoulder with a fire inside it which meant that Harry had talent for controller fire magic, Severus saw the same for controlling water and ice. He also saw that Harry has remarkable hidden talents for legilimency, occlumency, protective and healing magic along with abilities for wandless magic and movement magic such as flying. All of this meant one thing, Harry Potter is a Universal Mage. This 13 year old boy has no limit to what his magic can do and yet he hasn't shown any of this unless he was overwhelmed with emotion.

Harry felt exactly the same as he had before the spell was cast except for the fact that Snape was looking flabbergasted. Snape had lost the last bit of colour he still had in his face, which was saying a lot.

Severus rarely found himself overwhelmed. He had the theory that Harry had been a Mage, but a Universal Mage? Severus slowly made his way over to where Harry was standing looking profoundly confused and he looked deeply into his green eyes that had once belonged to Lily. When he looked into Harry's eyes, he saw a lot of hurt, abuse, anger and most of all he saw a lack of love. That explained why Harry didn't have most of his abilities yet. Emotionally, Harry was deeply hurt and didn't have much confidence and didn't believe he had anything special. Without knowing it, he was subconsciously oppressing his powers. Any previous prejudice that Severus had towards Harry was gone. He could see that Harry was not one to brag, or he would have more access to his abilities. With that, Severus knew the boy would need intense training to heal the deep wound in his mind. Severus knew that he couldn't project the same hatred onto Harry like he has been doing because he knows now more than ever that it won't do Harry much good. He swore to protect Harry, Lily's only son and he will stand by that promise. Severus knows that Harry would have been his own child had he not made one or two crucial mistakes.

* * *

This chapter was a bit shorter but I hope to make them longer once the story progresses a little. Thank you for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

* * *

Severus rarely found himself overwhelmed. He had the theory that Harry had been a Mage, but a Universal Mage? Severus slowly made his way over to where Harry was standing looking profoundly confused and he looked deeply into his green eyes that had once belonged to Lily. When he looked into Harry's eyes, he saw a lot of hurt, abuse, anger and most of all he saw a lack of love. That explained why Harry didn't have most of his abilities yet. Emotionally, Harry was deeply hurt and didn't have much confidence and didn't believe he had anything special. Without knowing it, he was subconsciously oppressing his powers. Any previous prejudice that Severus had towards Harry was gone. He could see that Harry was not one to brag, or he would have more access to his abilities. With that, Severus knew the boy would need intense training to heal the deep wound in his mind. Severus knew that he couldn't project the same hatred onto Harry like he has been doing because he knows now more than ever that it won't do Harry much good. He swore to protect Harry, Lily's only son and he will stick by that promise. Severus knows that Harry would have been his own child had he not made one or two crucial mistakes.

* * *

Without saying anything and avoiding eye contact, Severus went to the pensieve and extracted his memory for them to view.

When they came out Harry was still looking confused and Dumbledore had a weird expression on his face which Severus could not read. For some reason Severus thought he saw guilt in Dumbledore's eyes.

"Er.. Professor, what does all of this mean?", Harry asked cautiously not really knowing what to say or what this meant.

"This, Mr. Potter means that you are a Universal Mage. The last one of you was noted in 1687. You have a bit of every ability known that wizards can have.", Snape said warily.

Harry felt his insides freeze. He didn't think this to be true, surely his supposed powers would have shown at times?

"But sir, this can't be true. Wouldn't my abilities have shown by now?"

"Harry, we assume there is a lock that you have put on your abilities. You have experienced much trauma and abuse which could mean that you have unknowingly put a lock on your powers."

Both Harry and Snape looked at each other with their eyes wide. This was the first time that Snape had called Harry by his first name. Meanwhile Dumbledore who had recovered from this revelation was chuckling quietly to himself at the interaction from Severus and Harry.

"Professor Snape and I need to talk, Harry, we will speak with you later. I will advise you to only tell Mr. Weasley and Miss. Granger about this because if word got out of your wizarding status, it could be very dangerous for both you and the school.", Dumbledore said in his usual calm voice even though he looked quite troubled.

Harry had no problem leaving now, he needed to go somewhere quiet to think about what he has found out today. With a slight nod Harry left the office feeling empty for some reason. He felt like he was not good enough to carry abilities like these and wished it was someone else to have this wizarding status. In a way Harry felt like he had a lot more pressure on himself now, besides the whole part where he is the boy who lived and that he should be the one to kill Voldemort of course. Harry went back to the common room and escaped Hermione and Ron's questions by insisting he had a bad headache and that he would catch them up later.

* * *

Severus and Dumbledore stood looking at each other for a good few minutes after Harry left. They were both so lost in thought that they forgot each other's presence. Severus broke the silence cautiously.

"Albus, he needs proper training. He needs someone to guide him to discover his abilities while also showing him how to control this kind of magic."

"Yes Severus, I agree. I am sorry but I need to cut this meeting short. I wish to be alone to review our options. I will speak with you soon" Dumbledore said absentmindedly.

Severus could tell that something was really bothering Dumbledore. Ever since he found out about what Potter is there was something off about him. Therefore, Severus decided not to argue with the man. "Very well." Severus sighed and left Dumbledore's office to go back to grading his students Potions exams and think about the day's events.

* * *

When Severus left his office Dumbledore took out a box that could only be opened by himself. He took out 3 envelopes from the box, one of which was addressed to himself, the other to Severus and the last to Harry. The 3 names on the envelopes were in Lily's handwriting. There was a note written on the envelope with the letter for Dumbledore saying:

 _This letter will only open in the event that both myself and James pass away while Harry is still alive without Sirius to be his godfather.._

Dumbledore took out the his letter and read it once over.

 _Dearest Dumbledore,_

 _If you are reading this then I have a few favours which need to be met and you are the only person I trust with this. Firstly I would just like to say thank you, you were someone I looked up to during my time at Hogwarts and even after I graduated. You helped James and I with many problems and we will forever be grateful for this._

 _The purpose of this letter is if Harry does somehow survive with Sirius not being able to take care of him. I have been reading a lot lately about strong but old magic and I have an idea on how Harry could survive an attack by Voldemort/Death Eaters. I very much hope that Sirius is currently taking care of Harry but if he is not then I want you to talk to Severus. I need you to bring him to the Light Side and the Order. You know he is on the right path already since he did warn us about Voldemort planning an attack. Without Severus we would not have been prepared and we wouldn't have had even a chance to survive. He is a good man. He just made a lot of mistakes and had a really rough childhood which set him off on the wrong way in school. I know Severus more than anyone and would trust him with my life._

 _For that reason, if Sirius is not in a position to be Harry's godfather then I want Severus to be godfather to Harry if you manage to bring Severus back to the Light Side. I have thought this through a lot recently and I assume that Severus is already on the Light Side or is in the process of making that decision. I expect that he will finally see how hopeless it is on the Dark Side with my death. James and I have been talking about this and although he didn't want to agree at first, he does see that Severus is our best option for someone to take care of Harry without Sirius. I wish for Severus to gain some comfort if he finds out that we want him to take care of Harry. I sincerely hope that Severus will have the strength to move on from his past grudges and let go of any preconceptions he may have of Harry. Please give the letter addressed to Severus when you tell him about being godfather to Harry and give Harry his letter when he is old enough._

 _Thank you for being the person who I was able to trust with something as serious as this._

 _With love and gratefulness,_

 _Lily Potter_

Dumbledore knew he would have to tell Severus and Harry about this before the school year ended. He was not looking forward to Severus's reaction at all. But what Severus felt now didn't matter in his point of view. Harry needed a strong and powerful teacher, he most of all needed someone who would show him some love. Similarly, Severus also needed someone to love. Dumbledore put his letter back into the envelope and got out the two letters addressed to Severus and Harry. He was going to tell them separately tomorrow morning. Inside Dumbledore was already very worried, he felt a tingling in his stomach that he almost never feels. Dumbledore's biggest fear was that Harry would no longer trust him. He loved Harry like his own.

* * *

When Severus woke up the next morning and went to his Potions classroom to check on a potion that he had been brewing for Madame Pomfrey he saw a note in Dumbledore's handwriting on his desk. _Meet me in my office at 10am if possible. - Dumbledore._ Severus furrowed his eyebrows irritably because of the short notice. He had a half hour before he was due to meet Dumbledore. He called his small, green eyed house elf Nibby to make him some breakfast and then made his way to the Headmaster's office. For some reason he felt a little worried as to what Dumbledore may have to say since he did behave very oddly yesterday.

" _Apple eclairs"_ muttered Severus while the gargoyle rotated to make a staircase appear.

"Come in" said Dumbledore trying his best to sound calm even though he knew he was going to be cursed to oblivion if he didn't pick his words correctly.

Severus could hear just from those two words that something was seriously troubling Dumbledore. He was going to try to stay straight forward and to the point to make this a bit easier.

"You summoned me?"

"Yes, Severus. I have something to tell you and I more than know that you will not be pleased. I ask of you to remember that Harry is the priority here once I tell you. Please have a seat. Lemon drop?"

Severus accepted the lemon drop for the first time because he felt like he might really need something sweet when he hears what Dumbledore has to say.

Without saying anything, Dumbledore took out the box and took out Severus's envelope He put it on the his desk and Severus could immediately see that it was addressed to himself in Lily's handwriting. Severus froze completely. It felt like his whole body was paralysed.

"Yes, this letter is from Lily. She gave me 3 envelopes with letters in them 2 days before she died. One is for me, and the other two are for you and Harry. Before you open it though I need to talk to you about what was in my letter." Dumbledore took out his envelope and put it on the table. Again Severus could see it was from Lily. "Severus, please let me say everything I need to say before you ask questions or interrupt. Firstly, Lily made it so that these letters could only ever be opened by anyone if James and herself both passed away while Harry survived and if Sirius wasn't in a position to be his godfather. If any of these 4 things were not met, the letters would never be able to be read. Lily asks me for a few favours in my letter. The first favour was to make sure that you returned to the Light Side although Lily had already worked out that you would come to the Light by yourself because of her death. The next thing she said was that she knows you more than anyone and that she trusts you with anything. For these reasons she said that she wants you to be Harry's godfather as soon as you return to the light if Sirius can't be that person to Harry since Sirius was there for Harry for the first year of his life." Dumbledore watched Severus's expression closely. It looked like Severus couldn't make his mind up, Dumbledore could see happiness at Lily's words, renewed sadness that she was gone but the most obvious emotion that Severus had right now was fury. "Lily stated that even James agreed that you would be their best second option because they did know that you were the one to warn me about Voldemort's plans."

"And who gave you the right to hide this from me for so long?" Severus hissed through gritted teeth. He was trying to contain his outrage but he knew he would soon lose that battle, his wand was gripped firmly in his right hand. He no longer felt frozen, he felt his blood burning in his veins. He felt anger swell up in himself and he could practically feel magic pulse through his body wanting to be released.

* * *

To be continued….

This chapter was particularly hard to write but I hope you liked it anyways. I would really appreciate some more **reviews** so that I can improve the quality of my writing and make the story more entertaining. Thank you for reading, you can expect another chapter on Sunday!


	4. Chapter 4

p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"Chapter 4/p  
hr style="color: #000000; font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" noshade="noshade" size="1" /  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""Yes, this letter is from Lily. She gave me 3 envelopes with letters in them 2 days before she died. One is for me, and the other two are for you and Harry. Before you open it though I need to talk to you about what was in my letter." Dumbledore took out his envelope and put it on the table. Again Severus could see it was from Lily. "Severus, please let me say everything I need to say before you ask questions or interrupt. Firstly, Lily made it so that these letters could only ever be opened by anyone if James and herself both passed away while Harry survived and if Sirius wasn't in a position to be his godfather. If any of these 4 things were not met, the letters would never be able to be read. Lily asks me for a few favours in my letter. The first favour was to make sure that you returned to the Light Side although Lily had already worked out that you would come to the Light by yourself because of her death. The next thing she said was that she knows you more than anyone and that she trusts you with anything. For theses reasons she said that she wants you to be Harry's godfather as soon as you return to the Light if Sirius can't be that person to Harry since Sirius was there for Harry for the first year of his life." Dumbledore watched Severus's expression closely. It looked like Severus couldn't make his mind up, Dumbledore could see happiness at Lily's words, renewed sadness that she was gone but the most obvious emotion that Severus had right now was fury. "Lily stated that even James agreed that you would be their best second option because they did know that you were the one to warn me about Voldemort's plans."/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""And who gave you the right to hide this from me for so long?" Severus hissed through gritted teeth. He was trying to contain his outrage but he knew he would soon lose that battle, his wand was gripped firmly in his right hand. He no longer felt frozen, he felt his blood burning in his veins. He felt anger swell up in himself and he could practically feel magic pulse through his body wanting to be released./p  
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p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""Severus, please believe me, when I opened my letter 13 years ago, I only made that decision to protect both you and Harry." Dumbledore pleaded./p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""Don't dare lie to me, Albus. You had 13 years to tell me about Lily's wishes. You did this because you needed me to be your spy. You assumed that I need to live a loveless life full of shame and guilt to still put myself in that position. You don't care one bit about what happens to anyone as long as they play your stupid little game. You had no right to keep this from me, Lily TRUSTED you!" Severus was unaware of his breathing which was getting faster as his temper shortened./p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""You know it isn't like that. Would you have taken Harry in? Would you have given him the love that he desires so much? You looked sick after Lily died, you weren't well. How were you supposed to take care of a child when you needed to take care of yourself first?"/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""It DOES NOT matter if I would have taken him in. That was not for you to decide. Both Harry and I had a right to know and we had a right to give it a try. For Lily." Severus said with a certain pain in his eyes that Dumbledore had not seen since the time when Lily passed./p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"Severus was right of course and Dumbledore couldn't argue with his points. But at the same time he truly only wanted to protect them both and he had to make Severus see that./p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""I acknowledge that the decisions I have made were not necessarily right or fair for you or Harry but despite everything, I did have both of your best interests at heart. At the time that I brought Harry to the Dursleys, no one knew exactly what happened. For all I knew, Voldemort could have returned any minute, Harry was safest under the protection of the blood wards that I set up. And at the time I only knew your cold and mysterious self. I was sure that you would hate Harry for what he represented, I had no idea what you were capable of, you did just return from being a Death Eater." Dumbledore said calmly although he knew from watching Severus's expression that he was now more hurt than angry./p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"Severus was in anguish. He felt betrayed. He even stood up for the man when he meddled in other people's business because he had always trusted Dumbledore's judgement. What hurt the most was that Dumbledore had completely disregarded Lily's requests. After all this time, Lily wanted and trusted him with her son! But Severus couldn't even feel anger at this point, his original feelings may have been so, but now he all he felt was a renewed sadness that he couldn't do what Lily wanted him to. Harry and himself could have tried, they could have made it work somehow. Ultimately, Severus was starting to see more of Lily in the boy which he would surely have seen in the boy at a much younger age too. Severus let out a deep huff of frustration and remembered the envelope that Dumbledore had put on his desk for him. He slowly opened the envelope and took out a letter and a note full of Lily's neat but bubbly writing./p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"The note read:/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"emSeverus, you will only be able to read this letter if I did not get the chance to talk to you before my death./em/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"The letter unfolded and could be read easily./p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"emDear Severus,/em/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"emIf you are reading this then I have since passed away. I cannot say what I want to say in this letter without apologising to you though. I regret the day where I cut contact with you, you needed someone to believe in you even when you were at your worst and as your best friend at the time that person should have been me. I knew you better than anyone at the time and I also knew that you weren't yourself in your last years at Hogwarts. If I had stuck with you then maybe everything would have been different. For this reason, I just want to say that I am so sorry and I wish we could have done things differently./em/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"emAnother thing that I need to say is thank you. You gave James and I a chance at survival by warning Albus about Voldemort's plans. I know you probably aren't happy that Albus told us but he did feel like we should know. I know you are a good man. I forgive you for how things went between us, I hope you can forgive me too./em/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"emNow to the main purpose of this letter. Severus I must ask you for a favour. The fact that you can read this letter means that you have returned to the Light side, that Sirius can't be Harry's godfather and of course that I couldn't talk to you before I died. James and I have been talking a lot and we agreed that if we do die that Sirius is unable, we want you to be Harry's godfather. You have proven yourself trustworthy and caring when you decided to go against Voldemort and tell Dumbledore about his plans. Severus I know this is asking for a lot but I wish that you will at least give it a try. If it doesn't work out between you two then that is okay, but please try at least. Give Harry the love that we couldn't give him. I want you to be the person who Harry goes to when he is upset, or if he is having a nightmare or if he just wants to spend some time with someone who will love and believe in him. I know you can be that person. You deserve to have someone to love too. You can both be there for each other. I wish I had made things right between us but maybe Harry will fill that void that was once our friendship./em/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"emThank you for everything, Severus./em/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"emWith love,/em/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"emYour Lily/em/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"Dumbledore was watching Severus closely as he was reading the letter. Severus' face at first was full of guilt which turned into sadness. Then something happened which Dumbledore had not expected, he saw a small tear go trickle down the side of Severus's face. Beyond anything Dumbledore wished he could go back and change his decision to about withholding all of this information for so many years. But both men in the room knew that that was impossible./p  
hr style="color: #000000; font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" noshade="noshade" size="1" /  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"Meanwhile, Hermione was on her way back from the library with as much information on the different kinds of abilities and the wizarding status that Harry has. When Harry told her and Ron about what Snape and him had found out, Ron already knew everything about the last living Universal Mage and he explained how it was believed that Merlin himself was one too. Hermione didn't like it at all that Ron knew so much about something that she knew so little about so she spent most of her day in the library finding out everything about wandless magic, occlumency, legilimency and about all of the wizard/witch types. She was quite excited to share everything she found out with Harry and Ron so she practically skipped into the common room. Harry and Ron were sitting by the chairs in the corner of the common room where the trio always sat when they talked about important things so that they would not be overheard./p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""Woah Hermione, school ends in like 3 days, give the books a break" said Ron mockingly as Hermione struggled to put down all of the books she had collected onto the table./p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""Very funny, Ron. While you were as always being very productive I went to the library to find out more about the different abilities that Harry has." She said as she nodded at Harry. "I actually found something quite disturbing. I read up on that "Legacy Spell" that Snape cast on you. It seems that this spell has had a very dark past so I'm surprised that they actually cast it on you."/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""What do you mean, "dark past"?" Harry asked worriedly./p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""Well, in the Dark Ages when muggles tried to burn witches, families often cast the spell on newborns to see if they had any abilities and where their magic could reach to. In a lot of cases babies were murdered or sent away if they didn't inherit specific abilities that represented a family. For example, if a family had a history of being really talented in healing and a child was born without that magical talent then the child was seen as worthless."/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""Bloody hell, I wonder where Snape learned about that sort of spell"/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""Don't be daft Ron, Snape used to read a lot about Dark Spells and probably learned about it there. They probably didn't even know about its past"/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""I mean, they obviously didn't have bad intentions with the spell so I don't mind it. What else did you find out Hermione?" Harry said curiously./p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""Well, as you probably already know there are 3 special types of witches/wizards. There are sorcerers, warlocks and mages. Sorcerers are mainly talented in movement magic, wandless magic and often turn into Dark and very powerful wizards. Many believe that Voldemort himself is a sorcerer. Warlocks are often very talented in transfiguration, they are very intelligent and can manipulate magic in creative ways to help in fights. They are also good at alchemy and potions. Dumbledore is one of the very well known Warlocks but I am sure you know this already because of his position as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. Lastly, there are mages, which are talented in elemental magic such as controlling water, fire and they can even create the strongest winds known to wizards. However, mages are most widely known for their other abilities that they develop. Mages are generally born with a mix of abilities that could be anything really whether that be flying, protective magic or a variety of other things. Harry, what you are is ridiculously rare. Your magic has no limit except yourself."/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"Harry was listening very intently to what Hermione was saying. He found all of this quite interesting./p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""I wonder if Professor Snape has a particular category" Harry contemplated./p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""I have thought about that too but we have no way of finding out except if we ask him." Hermione stated./p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""You could ask the git, Harry. The worst he could do is take points from Gryffindor, right?"/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""Yeah alright, I will try to bring the subject up the next time I am with him alone." Harry declared. "Hermione, did you by any chance read anything about what kind of things mages have achieved in the past?"/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""Yes I did come across some interesting stories." Hermione shuffled through some pages and handed the one she was looking for to Harry./p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"Harry slowly started reading the piece of parchment out loud so that Ron could listen in./p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"emOrius Borage - Mage - died in 1923 - it was recorded that he had a special talent for controlling fiendfyre, he could control it without using a wand which was believed to be impossible because of the many years it takes to become even close to controlling fiendfyre with a wand. Since his death, no one yet has had such control over it. Wandless magic is usually one of sorcerers which is why his achievements were so extraordinary./em/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"emLucinda Prince - Mage - died in 1962 - Lucinda was a very experienced occlumens and legilimens. People who have had conversations with her could swear that she somehow was able to read their minds right as they were talking to her. No one beat her in duels because she always knew what spell they would cast or when they would attack. She is the only known person to have been so gifted at both legilimency and occlumency./em/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"emAmpelius Peverell - Universal Mage - died in 1687 - Ampelius Peverell was the last Universal Mage that was recorded. He mastered wandless magic, flying, legilimency, occlumency and alchemy but he was most known for his protective magic. At some point during his life he was attacked by a group of four Dark wizards who had heard of his magical powers. They set out to kill him one morning while he was in his garden with his wife and child. When the four disillusioned themselves and started throwing hexes at his family, something extraordinary happened. Ampelius got out his wand and cast a protective shield around his family that even the killing curses cast on them couldn't penetrate. This is also something that has not been recorded since./em/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""Wicked! If this got out no one would even dare mess with you, we could show Draco exactly how small he is in this world."/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""Ron! This needs to stay between us three, Snape and Dumbledore. If this got out it could be ridiculously dangerous. Everyone would be out to try and hurt Harry either out of jealousy or fear.."/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""I don't understand how I am what I am though, like someone in my family must have been a Mage too then."/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""Yes Harry I have thought about that too, maybe you ought to ask Dumbledore more about your ancestry."/p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;""I will next time I see him, surprisingly I think that I will be called to him soon anyways." Harry said sarcastically./p  
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"The trio let out a small chuckle and then started to play a game of exploding snap, it was the only thing that Harry and Ron could beat Hermione in./p  
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p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"Thanks for reading. I would really like some more strongreviews/strong, they motivate me to keep writing and its good to know what I can improve :)/p 


	5. Chapter 5

Harry woke up the next morning and got dressed so he could head down to breakfast with Ron. There were two more days left until he would head back to the Dursley's for summer holidays. He was dreading being back on the Hogwarts Express with the knowledge that his summer would probably be worse than previous ones. He had, after all, ran away from the Dursley's following his accidental magic that inflated his Aunt Marge. He knew they weren't going to be too happy to see him.

"Come on Ron, Hermione is waiting for us in the common room" Harry said to Ron who was still in bed trying to get that extra minute of sleep. He hastily got out of bed when Harry threatened to cast Aguamenti on him.

The three of them hurried down to the Great Hall and started eating breakfast. When Harry looked down at his plate he saw a note poke out from under it. As he had expected it was in Dumbledore's writing.

 _Harry, please meet me in my office at 10am, I would like to talk to you about a few things – Dumbledore_

"Looks like I will get the chance to ask about my ancestors today" Harry mumbled as the curiosity he had felt the previous days came back to him.

"That's good, at least one of the things we are wondering about will possibly be answered today" Hermione said excitedly. She always felt very satisfied it when answers came to things she had no clue about.

"Don't come back to us more questions than answers, Harry" Ron joked. He was happy for Harry but also jealous in a way. Again, Harry could actually be someone who he wouldn't even dream about becoming.

* * *

At 10am Harry found himself outside of Dumbledore's office. He knocked on the door and a voice as calm as always had said "Come in".

"Ah, Harry. It is good to see you. I assume you aren't too happy about returning home soon?"

"No, sir. Is there really no way I could stay here? I could use the fireplaces to visit Ron and I would be perfectly happy helping the house elves for a while." Harry offered even though he knew it was useless.

"I'm afraid not" said Dumbledore softly. "But I might be able to arrange a place for you to go in maybe a month's time." Dumbledore was going to ask Severus if he could start Harry's training over summer already since the boy would most definitely need it. It would also be a good bonding time for Severus and Harry to get more comfortable with each other and to possibly learn about each other's sides that they both had knowingly or unknowingly overlooked in the past three years.

"Anywhere other than the Dursley's, sir" Harry said excitedly, wondering where it may be that the Headmaster could be sending him.

"Harry, I have a particular reason why I summoned you here. Before I tell you what it is I want to talk to you about, would you like a lemon drop?"

"No, sir, thank you though." Harry said and smiled. He had had a pretty heavy breakfast and was still quite full.

"Very well. Harry, I know that you will not be too pleased with me after this conversation, you may even be quite angry but please promise to hear me out." Dumbledore could already feel his stomach act like a washing machine when he saw the confused and worried look on Harry's face.

"Um, okay, I promise I will let you say everything you need to say" Harry was also starting to feel his stomach tingle a little.

"Two days before your mother died, she gave me three envelopes with letters. One was for me, the other for Professor Snape and the third for you. In my letter, your mother, Lily, asked me to bring you to Professor Snape and that he was to be your godfather if Sirius was not in a position to be that person to you. Harry, it is not my place to tell you why your mother would want Severus to be your godfather, that is up to Professor Snape to inform you. What I need to tell you is that if there is someone you should be angry with, it is me. I kept this from both of you since the day Lily died because I thought it would be for the better. I told Professor Snape about this yesterday and as you can imagine, he wasn't too happy with me. But what I can tell you is that he was not angry about the news, I think he was actually quite happy about the revelations in the letter, despite the fact that he didn't get told when he should have been. Severus was quite hurt that he didn't get the chance to try and build a relationship with you from the start." Dumbledore felt like a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders. He had finally told both Severus and Harry. Now all he had to do was deal with the reaction he would get from the young teenager.

"My mother wanted Snape to raise me?" Harry gasped. "Why would she want that, Snape hates me!" he exclaimed.

"Professor Snape." Dumbledore corrected Harry. "He doesn't hate you, he just hates what you represent. Harry, I cannot go into much detail about this or I will probably be cursed into next week but you should go and talk to Severus about this. I will tell you that when Severus was young, he was not treated appropriately at home or in school. During his time at Hogwarts, he was bullied by a group of Gryffindors which your father led. This is why he is so resentful towards anything that has to do with James. I will not say anymore about this though."

"Professor, why did you keep this from us? Who gave you the idea to ignore my mother's wishes?" Harry said, suddenly feeling a bit angry towards Dumbledore which was a feeling that he never thought he'd have towards the great wizard.

"Professor Snape was.. let's just say he was having a very hard time accepting Lily's death. He was not well and I felt he couldn't possibly take care of the young boy everyone was talking about. Also, you may have already wondered why I keep insisting you return to the Dursley's. There are very powerful blood wards at the Dursley's home. This means that if you are there for at least a month a year, you will be protected from Death Eaters and Voldemort because of the strong love Lily had for you in her sacrifice. I don't expect you to understand all of this my boy, but I do need you to know that I just wanted to protect both of you."

"I COULD HAVE HAD A NORMAL LIFE! WE COULD HAVE AT LEAST TRIED!" Harry yelled. This was too much for him, first his parents die, then he finds out that he had Sirius, a man who loves him dearly but he can't be with him because he is the most wanted wizard for something he didn't do, then he finds out he could have been living with his godfather since he was a baby? Harry could feel his magic pulsing in his veins as one of Dumbledore's shelves blew up. He didn't even feel bad about the explosion, he felt triumph at the fact that he broke something of Dumbledore's.

Dumbledore's eyes widened at the strength of the explosion. Only Merlin knew what would happen if Harry got even angrier and he did not want to be in the same room with Harry if he reached that point so he tried to stay calm and end this discussion to give time for Harry to cool down. "Professor Snape said something quite similar and I understand your anger, Harry, and I do regret my choice after talking to Severus but there's nothing we can do to change this now. Would you like the letter that Lily wanted you to have?" Dumbledore said as calmly as his still very surprised self let him.

Harry nodded and was a little disappointed at the lack of a reaction that Dumbledore gave off. He wanted him to yell at him, it would make it okay for Harry to yell back. He took the letter from Dumbledore and left his office without saying another word or looking at him. Harry ran straight for the common room so he could read the letter in peace. He felt a tingle of happiness inside of him though, Dumbledore did say that Snape was happy about the news.. He did always have a weird thing for wanting the Professor to like him even though it never worked.

Dumbledore sighed and cast _"Reparo"_ where Harry had lost control of his magic. He knew it was going to take a while for Harry to ever trust or confide in him again.

* * *

Harry dodged Hermione and Ron by putting over his invisibility cloak that he, thank Merlin, still had in his schoolbag. He took his bag with him everywhere which still had the Marauder's map in it just to be extra careful. He would be forever grateful that Lupin gave it back to him. He took the cloak off once he was sure that his dormitory was completely empty. He sat himself onto the wide, concrete window sill and slowly opened the envelope which had a note on top saying:

 _Harry, this letter will only open if Sirius was not able to be there for you_

He unfolded the letter and for the first time he felt loved and close to his mother.

 _Dear Harry,_

 _Harry. My son. I am so sorry that James and I were not able to be there for you. We love you so much and will always be with you. I don't exactly know when you will be opening this but I do assume that Severus will have given to this letter to you sometime in your early years at Hogwarts. I really do hope that you will love Hogwarts as much as I did and that you make the lifelong friends that I did. Hogwarts truly is the one place that you will always be able to call home._

 _I really hope things have somehow worked out between you and Severus. No matter what kind of arguments you get into with him, remember that he is one person that I trust with everything. Severus is the reason that we got a chance at survival, you know. We went into hiding because Severus warned us about Voldemort wanting to find us. And even when you feel like you hate him just remember that he is a good man. I really need you to try it with him. The two of you will and hopefully are already supporting each other in whatever you choose to do. I hope you are as good in Potions as him already! Severus had a gift for it before we even went to Hogwarts. It was absurd, he would disregard any instructions in the potions book and it looked like he was just throwing random ingredients into the cauldron but at the end, he would always win huge amounts of points for the perfect potions he made. Harry, Severus will always be there for you like he was for me. I hate it that the only thing you will have from me is this letter but just know that if I was with you right now I would be giving you the strongest and longest hug you have ever felt._

 _I know that you are and will make James and I very proud with whatever it is that you do in your life. We are already so proud of you, Harry. I love you with all my heart._

 _Sending hugs & kisses,_

 _Your mother/Lily_

Harry smiled as he read his mother's memory about Snape's potions skills. It reminded him a little of how Hermione had a talent for transfiguration along with all the other subjects. He felt his heart hurt in his chest when he read parts about how his mother trusted Snape and wanted him to have raised Harry. He started crying a little when he read about his mother wanting to hug him so desperately and inside he told himself never to trust Dumbledore with anything anymore. The old man robbed him of a possible good life both he and Snape could have shared. Although he didn't know his Professor much besides his cold side, he truly did believe in his mother's words that he could be a good and loving man. It was weird to think that Snape and his mother had been childhood best friends. He was definitely going to go and talk to Snape later that day. It hurt Harry even more to think that he couldn't spend much time trying to get to know Snape's other side when he had to go back to the Dursley's in two days. He sat there on the windowsill for at least an hour, quietly sniffling to himself. The situation was just so unfair. Eventually Ron found him and Harry was glad that he had stopped crying around 10 minutes ago, so you couldn't tell he had been.

"Sorry mate, I can't tell you what Dumbledore told me yet, I have to go and see Professor Snape." Harry said hastily as he got up and started making his way out of the four-poster bedded room.

"Did you find out about your ancestors?" Ron said quickly when he noticed that his friend had no intentions of staying around to talk.

Harry had completely forgotten about that, but it seemed like the least of his priorities now. "I completely forgot about that, honestly. I will ask Snape if he knows anything though" Harry said to hopefully shake off his friend. He went down to the common room and told Hermione that he had to see Snape. He then rushed down to the Slytherin dungeons where Snape's office was located. He wanted to talk to him as quickly as possible. He wanted to know if there was any hope that he could establish some sort of relationship with him. He felt like he was obligated to try at least, to honour his mother's wishes.

Harry knocked on the door of his office and waited, nervousness starting to sink in. He realised that he had no clue of what he was going to say. Well, he wouldn't be a Gryffindor if he didn't rush into things without knowing what he was doing so he told himself it would be fine.

Meanwhile Severus had cast a spell to see who it was and when he realised it was Harry standing outside his office door, he knew that the boy knew.

"Come in" said Snape, trying to sound inviting for the first time. He knew he couldn't muck this up. He had to try with Harry, for Lily. And he sure hoped that Harry had about the same thoughts as he did.

* * *

To be continued..


	6. Chapter 6

Harry knocked on the door of his office and waited, nervousness starting to sink in. He realised that he had no clue of what he was going to say. Well, he wouldn't be a Gryffindor if he didn't rush into things without knowing what he was doing so he told himself it would be fine.

Meanwhile Severus had cast a spell to see who it was and when he realised it was Harry standing outside his office door, he knew that the boy knew.

"Come in" said Snape, trying to sound inviting for the first time. He knew he couldn't muck this up. He had to try with Harry, for Lily. And he sure hoped that Harry had about the same thoughts as he did.

* * *

Harry opened the heavy wooden door and entered Snape's office. He shuddered because it was quite cold and he was overwhelmed with a feeling of nervousness. He pushed those feelings aside and started the inevitable conversation.

"Sir, I just had a conversation with Professor Dumbledore, he told me about my mother's wishes and I was just wondering what you were thinking about this." Harry said cautiously. He was afraid that he would say the wrong thing, he did not want to mess this up.

Little did the two know that they were both equally nervous but both had the same mindset. They both wanted to honour Lily's wishes.

"Indeed. My main thought right now is that I do not want to wonder "what if?". I would like you to come to my quarters for dinner tonight so that we can talk a little about the future. But at the moment I wish to hear your thoughts too." Severus said feeling tingles go through his stomach. What if the boy didn't want what he wanted?

"I would like to try, sir. I read my letter and my mother obviously really wanted us to somehow have a relationship." Harry said trying to suppress the wave of happiness going through his body. It sounded like Professor Snape wants the same thing he does.

"As do I. Potter, this wouldn't be right unless I apologise first for how I have treated you. For the whole time you have been at Hogwarts I refused to see you as someone other than an exact image of James. I only saw what I wanted to see in you. I sincerely hope that we can simply move on from the past and disregard any preconceptions we may now have of each other." Severus said firmly. He wanted to reassure the boy that he would not treat him as he had before.

"Thank you, sir. I guess I should say sorry too since I always saw the bad in you. Like, in my first year I was so convinced that you were trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone that nothing could change my mind, not even Hermione." Harry said with a twinge of sarcasm in his voice. "Sir, Dumbledore told me to ask you about why you hate my father so much. He told me to ask you why my mother wanted you to be my godfather." Harry felt like he was crossing a line, but if this was going to work, they had to be honest.

Severus raised an eyebrow at the boy in front of him. Should he really go into detail about this? Was Harry ready to hear everything that both he and his father had done? Since he didn't believe in avoiding a child's questions, he answered as truthfully as he could.

"During my time at Hogwarts your father had three friends whom he did everything with. These 3 friends were Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin, you have met all of them by now in the unfortunate circumstances we found ourselves in a week ago. The reason why I sincerely dislike your father is because he and his friends tormented me during my time at Hogwarts. I assume this is because James was always head over heels in love with Lily and he was jealous that we were best friends. Everyday him and his insufferable friends hexxed me in the hallways, called me names and generally were pretty unpleasant towards me. I will let you view a couple of my memories with them so that you understand this clearly." Snape said, his tone was cold as he hated recalling these memories.

Severus walked over to his pensieve and extracted a few white wispy, substances from his temple using his wand. He then motioned for Harry to view them. The boy curiously dipped his head into the pensieve. Severus went back and sat at his desk.

Harry first spun down into a day close to Halloween, he could tell by the decorations around the hallways. He spotted a 14 year old version of Snape walking to one of his next classes, it wasn't like he was hard to spot because of his completely jet black hair. He was also reasonably tall and very skinny. Seemingly his hooked nose was the same size when he was a teenager as it is now. Harry chuckled at this thought and quickly followed Snape down the corridors. Soon, he could see his at-the-time teenage father with his three friends at the other end of the corridor, they were going to cross ways with Snape. Harry was astonished at how much he looked like his father. He practically had the same glasses and his hair was almost identical. A small pang of pride hit him in his chest. His father was good looking, however, one thing that was weird was that every few seconds his father shuffled through his hair, it consistently looked like he had just come back from a Quidditch match. When they spotted Snape, they made it very obvious. His father pointed at Snape and whispered something to Sirius, who started letting out laughs that resembled barking noises. Harry shuddered when he spotted Peter Pettigrew, he was quite ugly, he had huge spots and freckles. He was quite big too and his hair was slicked back like Draco Malfoy's. He trotted slightly behind Lupin.

 _"Oy, Snivellus!" James shouted. He walked over to Snape with much confidence in his strides._

 _Severus turned to face the Marauders, hoping they would just leave him be, although he knew that this would not happen even if someone's life depended on it._

 _"Since you are so great at potions, why don't you brew yourself a grease resistance potion? Would work wonders for you and whatever that is on your head that you call hair." James said viciously. He seemed quite satisfied with himself when his comment made Sirius and a few onlookers erupt into laughter._

 _"Don't you have anything better to do, Potter?" Severus was trying to gauge his anger, he would hex Potter's very punchable face right into next Sunday if he said anything else._

 _"If I were you I would listen to the advice I gave you about getting rid of some of that grease, I heard Lily isn't too fond of it."_

 _"You leave her out of this." Severus said taking on a new expression of hardness._

 _"And why would I do that?" James said challenging Severus._

It seemed like Snape had had enough and he cast a Tongue Growth hex onto James, which Sirius blocked because he saw that his friend wouldn't be able to react quickly enough. The next thing Harry sees is that Snape is encircled by James, Sirius and Peter. Lupin didn't want anything to do with this so he just left to his next class. They each hit Severus with one spell, of which he managed to deflect two in time but the third hit him. It was a tooth growing hex. His teeth starting growing rapidly and he started stumbling towards the hospital wing trying to escape the laughters of at least 20 students.

The scene changed and it was a warm summer day, his father and his friends were sitting against a tree. James was repeatedly catching a snitch while Peter sat there in awe. In this memory he also kept ruffling through his hair to make it look messy. Harry also spotted Snape not too far away, he walked over to him and it seemed he was going over his DADA OWL. This meant that he was at the end of his fifth year. Severus got up and started making his way across the grass, probably back to the castle. When Harry looked back at the Marauders his heart skipped, they were getting up and coming over to Snape.

 _"All right, Snivellus?" shouted James._

Harry could see that Snape's reaction was to immediately try to draw his wand but James already had.

 _"Expelliarmus!"_

Snape was disarmed. Harry could already feel a sinking feeling within him, his father didn't even let Snape draw his wand. That was cowardly. Snape obviously tried to dive for his wand but James once again, reacted swiftly.

 _"Impedimenta"_ he shouted and Harry watched as his Professor fell to the ground. He was shaking with anger after Sirius made some horrible comments alongside James, who was visibly finding this hilarious.

Snape then let out a series of curse words only to have his mouth washed out with a _"Scourgify"_ spell, once again cast by James. Harry was getting enough, he felt sick to his stomach but then, a girl with deep red hair and who had his brilliantly green eyes stormed out of the crowd. She yelled at James to leave Snape alone. A few exchanges were made and James proceeded to use a spell on Snape that hung him in the air, upside down showing the world his greying underpants. Lily was evidently furious and kept yelling at James to stop. When Severus got up and James told him that he could count himself lucky, Snape responded saying he didn't need help from filthy little mudbloods like her. Harry was horrified at this and he put his head up and out of the memory. He was unbelievably angry that Snape had said something like that to his mother, but he was most angry at his father. He could feel the familiar burning feeling inside him from when Dumbledore told him about the letters. The lights in Snape's office started flickering and a bunch of essays that were on his desk flew away and scattered around the office.

Severus didn't know what to do, it seemed that Harry was overwhelmed with anger. He got to the boy in three of his long strides and held onto the boys shoulders which tensed up. His eyes were closed, he was probably trying to calm himself too.

"Breathe, Harry. Just breathe. It was not my intention for you to get so angry at these memories. It was just so you could see for yourself. Just breathe." Severus said smoothly. To his surprise and relief, Harry's muscles relaxed and his breathing went back to normal.

Harry was thinking he was going to let Snape explain himself, he obviously didn't mean it or his mother would not have wanted him to be his godfather. "Why did you call my mother that name when she was just trying to help?" Harry made that sound more aggressive than he had intended. He looked down at his feet to signal a silent apology at his tone.

Severus' first instinct was to give out to him for that but he let it slide since the boy had just seen his worst memory. "I have nothing to say that will ever make it okay that I said something like that to your mother, Harry. But what I can say is that if I had one chance to change anything I ever did, it would be calling her that name. That day has since been my worst mistake and memory. I assume that I felt so humiliated already, and when Lily came and told them to stop it made me feel even more vulnerable, like I couldn't fight my own battles. And I guess it just slipped out." Severus said genuinely. Harry could literally feel the hurt and guilt in his voice.

"It's okay. I know what it feels like to be humiliated like that. Last year, everyone thought I was the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets since I could speak Parseltongue. Everyone used to make fun of me in the hallways and sometimes I would snap out at them." Harry said, relating to what Severus had felt back in his days at Hogwarts.

"Thank you. I believe I have said and showed you everything I needed to. You may ask any other questions you may have."

"Sir, did my mother ever talk to you again after that?"

"No, that was when our friendship basically ended. I tried to say sorry but she wouldn't hear it." Severus said calmly.

"Why did she want you to be my godfather? If you cut contact then how come she suddenly wanted you to be the one?" Harry asked, everything was still very confusing to him.

"I do not believe that Dumbledore wants me to tell you about some certain things yet, however I will tell you that when Voldemort had made plans to hurt you and your family, I went to Dumbledore and told him. That gave your parents enough time to go into hiding and as you know, have a secret keeper, Peter Pettigrew. You know what happened after that." Severus could feel Harry become curious about what it is that Severus couldn't tell him yet, but it wasn't right to tell the boy about the prophecy and that he was supposedly the "Chosen One" yet.

"You were a Death Eater?" Harry said with a worried look.

"Yes, and Voldemort still believes that I am. But in reality, I have been spying for Dumbledore since Lily's death."

"Wicked!" Harry exclaimed, forgetting who he was talking to.

Severus watched as Harry blushed considerably and let himself omit a small chuckle.

Harry was exasperated. His Professor had just.. come close to laughing? A lot of strange things were happening today.

"Sir, just one more question, am I related to someone who was a Mage? I mean, my wizard status must come from somewhere, right?" Harry asked. He didn't think it would do well to tell Hermione and Ron that he forgot for the second time in the day.

"You are directly related to one of the many Peverells. The Peverells were a family who always had some special ability. The last universal mage was in fact, a Peverell. You are related to them through James Potter's side. It is almost impossible to inherit characteristics from someone so long ago, but somehow it got passed along to you."

Harry wasn't surprised at this, he knew he had to have some connection to a powerful wizard for him to have these kinds of abilities. "Thank you, sir. I better get back to my common room, Ron and Hermione are probably going mad waiting for answers to their questions."

"Go ahead. I am happy with this talk, Harry. I will speak to you tomorrow."

Harry nodded and left the dungeons feeling remarkably more at ease than when he came. However, he had a strong sinking feeling in his stomach. He had always prided himself with being the son of James Potter. Everyone, even Dumbledore always talked so highly about his father. Now, he felt ashamed of what his father did to some people. He even felt disgusted. But when Harry reached the common room he temporarily forgot about his father and rushed over to Ron and Hermione, who were sitting in their usual chairs waiting for him.

Harry plopped himself into the free chair and said "You might want to take a moment to prepare for what I am about to tell you." he joked.

"Oh Merlin, whatever it is, it can't be more shocking than you being a Mage, right?" Ron asked.

"Much more." Harry said with a chuckle as he started explaining everything from the conversation with Dumbledore, to the letter from his mother, to the conversation he had just had with his newfound godfather.

* * *

Thank you for reading. This chapter was quite difficult to write and would appreciate reviews!


	7. Chapter 7

Harry plopped himself into the free chair and said "You might want to take a moment to prepare for what I am about to tell you." he joked.

"Oh Merlin, whatever it is, it can't be more shocking than you being a Mage, right?" Ron asked.

"Much more." Harry said with a chuckle as he started explaining everything from the conversation with Dumbledore, to the letter from his mother, to the conversation he had just had with his newfound godfather.

* * *

"You can't be serious." said Ron with a twinge of anger in his voice.

"He's my godfather, Ron. I have to try and make a relationship work. It is what my mother would have wanted from me.

"I agree with Harry. There's just no question about it, Professor Snape is whether you like it or not, Ron, Harry's godfather. I find it nice that they're at least trying." Hermione reasoned.

"So, now everything that the greasy git has put you through is forgotten? He has treated you horribly!" Ron exclaimed.

"Don't call him that! He already apologised, there is nothing you can say or do that will change my mind, so just let it go." Harry said he wanted to avoid getting into an argument so close to the summer.

"Dammit Harry, he's just going to hurt you again! What do you think will happen? That you become a perfect, loving family?" said Ron desperately. He hated Snape for what he always did to Harry during classes and that hatred was not going to disappear just because he is now his godfather.

"We can at least try." Harry said quietly. "You don't know what it's like to not have anyone there for you or not having a home to return to. I lived in a cupboard for 11 years! My mother wanted this and that's what will happen. Can we please talk about something else? I've had a very rough day and I don't need you here to tell me what to think."

"Fine." And with that, Ron got up and left his two friends for Dean and Seamus who were watching from across the room, wondering why the trio looked so heated.

"He'll come around, Harry. He just needs some time to process this news. I am happy for you." Hermione comforted.

"It's fine. Is it okay if I just go and lie down for a bit?" Harry said softly, not wanting to offend his last close friend. He needed to think a little about today and also about that dinner that Snape said they would have tonight about their future. He expected a note or a house elf to appear soon telling him when to go where since it was already 4pm, dinner would usually be in an hour and a half. Harry felt his stomach melt just thinking of spending an hour with Snape, he didn't have a clue what they would talk about and he certainly didn't want things to be awkward.

"Sure, I was just about to head down to the library anyways. I am going to draw up a study plan to learn off the books for next year by the time school starts." Hermione said sounding, for some reason, excited.

Harry lifted his eyebrows and gave Hermione a sarcastic look as he got up and headed towards his dormitory. When he got in, he was pleased that no one else was in the room. He crawled into his bed and slid under the covers until only his head was poking out. He was thinking over his argument with Ron. Harry really needed Ron to come around. He needed support from his best friend. He was of course grateful for Hermione but he felt that she didn't understand him like Ron did. Although Harry was quite upset about Ron, he pushed that thought to the back of his brain and started thinking about what he was going to do at the Dursley's. He thought back to the summer when he ran away from them after blowing up his Aunt Marge. He knew that she was definitely obliviated but since his Aunt and Uncle knew about the magical folk, their memories weren't altered. He wondered what they would do when he got back. Hopefully they would completely ignore him like they had before because Harry had every intention to completely learn off his potions book to hopefully make Snape happy. Harry's mind now wondered to some emergency topics he could bring up if things did get awkwardly silent at dinner. He settled on starting to either talk about Quidditch or Potions if things did get weird. When Harry reread the letter from his mother he felt a warmth spread through him, he felt a lot closer to her in a way but every time he read over his father's name he would turn cold inside. His father was a coward and a bully. He felt horrible for Snape because he knew exactly what it was like. But the difference was that Snape lost his only and best friend through the tormenting his father had done. And he hated his father for that since he could easily see the anguish in Snape's eyes when he had explained the situation to him earlier that day.

* * *

Harry somehow drifted off into a light sleep, he had after all needed some rest after the revelations of that day until he was woken up by a house-elf that reminded him a lot of Dobby. It had big green eyes and it introduced itself as Nibby.

"Wake up, Master. It is Nibby, Master Snape's elf. He is want me to tell you to meet him in his's office in 30 minutes." the house-elf practically squeaked.

Harry sat up and rubbed his eyes. He was asleep for about an hour. It was 17:30. "Yes, thank you Nibby, I will do as you say." He smiled at the elf and then she bowed and disapparated.

Now Harry could really feel his nervousness. He put on a fresh pair of wizarding robes and patted down his hair but it was of no use since it just sprang back to its usual look.

Meanwhile Severus was also quite uneasy. He had asked Nibby to make dinner so he didn't have to worry about that at least. What would he say to the boy? Severus intended for him to come and stay with him for a bit after being at the Dursley's during summer so that they could bond a little but would he even want that? He had the Prince's manor which he could probably turn into a comfortable home within the month that Harry was at the Dursley's. He wanted to talk about that with the boy but he also didn't want to make him feel like he was being pushed into saying yes. Severus really hoped that there would be some chemistry. He wanted to try and make Harry feel as comfortable as possible and he wanted him to feel open to talk about whatever he wished.

At precisely 18:00, Severus heard the knock on his office door. He got there in three long strides and opened the door for the rather nervous looking boy.

"Come in" Severus said as softly as his voice allowed.

Harry shot Severus a small smile and stepped through the big wooden door for the second time that day. Severus then motioned for him to follow. He walked through a relatively small door that was located at the very corner of his office. Behind the door was a long corridor that probably led to Snape's living quarters, Harry thought. When they got out at the other side of the corridor and Harry found himself in a surprisingly cosy living room. There was a black couch in one corner with a big fireplace in front of it. It looked like a very comfortable sofa. On the other side of the room was a wooden dining table with four seats that was already full of delicious-looking food. The house elves had definitely outdone themselves with this dinner. Beside it was a kitchen-like set up against one of the walls. In the centre of the room was a huge, rectangular carpet which had a design of different shades of green and black with the Slytherin logo in the middle. The ceiling was decorated with many lights, Harry assumed that you could choose which light you want on at any given time. The walls were decorated with green and white drapes hanging from each corner of the room. At the other side were another two wooden doors, one of which probably led to Snape's bedroom, Harry assumed. He really liked the design of Snape's living quarters, they were warm and welcoming. He felt quite comfortable and was looking forward to eating the amazing looking food on the table.

"Are you hungry? I have prepared dinner but if you wish to wait I could cast a Warming Spell on it." Severus questioned.

"I am actually very hungry, I fell asleep for a bit before coming so that's probably why." Harry said not wanting to wait much longer since he felt his stomach growl.

Apparently Snape heard his stomach because he let out a chuckle and raised an eyebrow at Harry. "Well, it seems that your stomach agrees." He walked over to the dining table and sat down, Harry did the same while suppressing the urge to laugh at the interaction that just happened between himself and his godfather. There was a lot on the table, such as roast chicken, mashed potatoes and chips, carrot soup and many other things. They both started eating and it tasted marvellous. Harry thought that it tasted even better than what they usually get at the Great Hall. As they were eating Severus tried to think of a way to bring up Harry coming to visit him in summer. "Do you enjoy being at the Dursley's, if even a little bit, Potter?"

"Sir, could you just call me Harry? I understand if we are in class but I would feel more comfortable with my first name when we are alone."

Severus was taken aback for a second, Harry didn't want to be formal with him, did that mean he should also tell him to call him Severus? No that could wait a bit. "I can see to that."

"I don't like it at all with the Dursley's. Not even one bit. I feel so trapped when I am with them, like I have to hide who I really am when I'm with them since they don't like magic at all. I wish I could go anywhere, but there, for summer." Harry said sadly.

"So I assume you aren't looking forward to returning after tomorrow." Severus stated.

"No, sir, not at all. I am literally dreading it." Harry said miserably.

"Well, Harry, if you would like, I could potentially let you live with me for a while after about a month of being at the Dursley's. Only if you want to, obviously. I expect us needing some time together before we can truly feel relaxed together." Severus said trying to analyse Harry's facial expression.

Harry felt a bubble of hope form inside of him. He felt a wave of excitement at what Snape had said. "Yes, of course! I would love to!" Harry said enthusiastically.

Severus let out a huge breath which he felt like he had inside of him for the whole day. "That is very good to hear. I will talk to Dumbledore about making arrangements and I will owl you when I know more." Severus said trying not to sound as happy as Harry was.

"Sir, where would we be staying?" Harry questioned. He still felt kind of uncomfortable with asking questions but he thought he should test the waters a bit.

"I inherited a house in my early adult years which I haven't used it since. It is my intention that while you are at the Dursley's renewing the blood wards, I will see to it that the house is suitable to live in."

"That sounds great, sir. Will we be starting my training while I am there?"

"I assume so. Your accidental magic has been showing as soon as you get angry, and you must learn to control that soon or things may get disastrous." Severus said firmly.

Harry looked down apologetically. He remembered their conversation earlier when he had made all of his Professor's essays and papers scatter about his office.

Again, Severus knew exactly what was on the boy's mind. He was so easy to read somehow. "It took a simple spell to gather the pages back. No need to worry about that. Besides, there is a reason why it is called accidental magic, Harry."

Harry nodded and felt reassured at this comment. He wondered why Snape was able to read him so easily, he wasn't that predictable, right?

"If you wish to ask any questions about anything, I will answer the best I can." Severus said, he wanted the boy to ask many questions. He felt that this was the best way, at the moment, to gain a little trust and get to know each other.

Harry was bursting to ask Snape if he was in any special wizarding category like him. Hermione also wanted him to ask about this. So he brought up a little courage inside himself and asked trying to sound rather innocent.

"Sir, are you in any special wizarding category?" Harry said cautiously.

Severus was not expecting that kind of question. But he had just told the boy that he could ask him anything so he had to answer. "Yes, Harry. But before I tell you I must warn you. You cannot tell anyone about this or I could be in a lot of danger, do you understand?" Severus said warily.

Harry nodded. He would have to lie to Hermione but the curiosity he now felt clouded that for the time being.

"I am a Mage, like you. Have you heard of Lucinda Prince?

"Yes, sir. I read about her in Hermione's notes. When she found out I was a Universal Mage, she perused the library for any information. Lucinda Prince was very talented in something called Occlu.. Occlumerr.." Harry stuttered not remembering the exact word.

"Occlumency and Legilimency, if that was what you were trying to say. Yes, she was extremely gifted in these two abilities. I am related to her on my mother's side. I somehow inherited her talents for it. People say that is why I am able to read my students so easily."

Ah, that made sense in Harry's head. It explained why Snape somehow knew what he was thinking all the time. "That's cool. Will I be learning how to do these things too?" Harry asked curiously.

"Yes, I will probably teach you Occlumency soon. This will allow you to close your mind and control your emotions around anyone. It will also protect you from anyone trying to get into your thoughts and memories.

This conversation went back and forth, Harry kept asking questions and Severus had joy in answering them until they were both full with food and dessert. It was about 19:30 when Severus decided that Harry should soon return to his common room. He was quite satisfied at their evening together, there had not once been an uncomfortable silence and Harry had become more talkative as their conversation went on.

"I think you ought to go back to your common room now. I will walk you back, who knows what kind of ideas a Gryffindor such as yourself will come up with on a walk through the corridors, alone." Severus said and he heard something that brought him warmth to his chest. Harry laughed for a bit at the sarcastic comment.

They walked through the narrow corridor, out of the dungeons and up to the picture of the Fat Lady which is where they would part ways.

"Goodnight, sir." Harry said gently. "Thank you for dinner."

He was surprised when Snape put an arm on his shoulder and also said goodnight but it made him feel good. He felt comforted after the day's events. Harry proceeded to walk through the picture after saying the password and up to his four poster dormitory. It was almost 20:00 when he got into bed and even though it wasn't late at all, his eyelids felt heavy and he fell into a deep sleep, content with how his day had ended.


	8. Chapter 8

"Goodnight, sir." Harry said gently. "Thank you for dinner."

He was surprised when Snape put an arm on his shoulder and also said goodnight but it made him feel good. He felt comforted after the day's events. Harry proceeded to walk through the picture after saying the password and up to his four poster dormitory. It was almost 20:00 when he got into bed and even though it wasn't late at all, his eyelids felt heavy and he fell into a deep sleep, content with how his day had ended.

* * *

Harry was twisting and turning in his sleep. He was covered in sweat from head to toe. The nightmare he was having right now was nothing in comparison to any of the others he ever had to endure before.

 _"Your existence killed us! You are a useless and worthless child. I died for you and it turns out you are nothing but a disappointment." James said to Harry through an open door that was in front of Harry's old cupboard. Harry was crying on his miserable excuse for a bed, watching his father._

 _"Stop it! What has gotten into you?" screeched Harry's mother._

 _"Have you seen this boy? How is he our son! And how dare you appoint Snivellus as godfather, when you brought that up I thought you were being sarcastic!" James said with a tone of disgust._

 _"Don't say that! Harry is our child, that alone makes him perfect enough for us to have given our lives and our love. Severus is definitely more mature than Sirius, he will be an amazing godfather, I am sure of it." Lily said in a hurt voice putting emphasis on Severus' name in the hope that James would use his name properly._

 _"He is a Death Eater! He will turn Harry into even more of a disappointment than he already is." James said as his face was becoming a deep red colour._

 _"I said don't say that about our son. He's perfect." Lily said quietly but forcefully._

 _"Far from it. You are somehow going to change the fact that Snivellus can even touch Harry. Understand? You will send them a sign or something, you know enough old magic to somehow get into contact with them."_

 _"And what if I don't?"_

 _"Then you leave me no choice but to do what I did the last time you went against my wishes." James said dryly watching Lily's expression turn to disbelief._

 _"Go ahead then. Have fun while you're at it." Lily said rebelliously._

 _James turned an even deeper colour of red, almost purple. He pulled Harry out of his cupboard and made him watch as he beat Lily._

 _Harry was panicking in his dream. He couldn't move, all he could do is yell and it was probably the worst thing he had experienced since the death of his parents. He watched as his mother got beaten up in his own name._

"NO! STOP IT!" Harry bellowed in his sleep. He woke up abruptly when he felt a smack on the side of his face. However, Harry was in no state to react. He was dripping with sweat and his breathing was abnormally fast. He was quickly falling into a full blown panic attack. He started becoming dizzy and all he could think about was seeing Snape. Flashes of his dream were popping in and out of his mind and crazily enough he needed the man's comfort. He didn't want to see anyone but him at this moment.

His dream made him feel like his father regretted having him. He felt like it was purely his own fault that his father was dead. He felt so worthless being looked at while he was in that awful cupboard. The image of Harry's father had changed so drastically after watching those memories that Harry's mind, in his sleep, began to wonder if his father had been a good husband. His breathing was still increasing in speed and he felt nauseous, he could feel the bile at the back of his throat.

Ron had no idea what to do, his friend had another one of his bad nightmares but it seemed worse this time. He figured he should bring Harry to Professor McGonagall. "Come on, Harry. Follow me, we'll get you to Professor McGonagall, she will help you." he said softly, hoping that Harry would not remember the argument that they had the other day.

Harry recognised the trusted voice and quickly got up and out of bed. But he wanted Snape, not his Head of House. "No... take me.. to Snape.." Harry managed to gasp in between breaths.

Ron's insides froze. He wanted to just leave Harry standing in the corridor but his pride and hatred of Snape had left in that moment. If his best friend needed Snape, then so be it. Ron practically dragged Harry to the dungeons and to Professor Snape's office. Ron knocked on the door multiple times and shouted "Professor! Professor! It's Harry!". The git better open up right now or I will never forgive him for what he has done to Harry in the past, Ron thought to himself.

* * *

Severus was asleep but since he had a charm that picked up noise from his the corridor outside his door and his office inside his room, he was quickly awoken. When he heard the name Harry he practically sprinted out of his living quarters through the long corridor and to the wooden door. This had better be an emergency he thought to himself as worry was spreading through his chest. He opened the door to see the Weasley prat supporting Harry who was covered in sweat and was breathing way too fast. Harry looked up briefly and saw his godfather standing there with concern in his black eyes, he calmed a little. Harry staggered over to him and held on to his jet black night robe.

"I take him from here, Mr. Weasley. Can I ask why you brought Harry to me instead of your Head of House?" Severus asked warily.

"He wanted you and only you. It looks like he had one of his more intense nightmares." Ron said smoothly.

"Very well, you may return to your bed and get some more sleep." Severus said ushering the red head out of his office. He was secretly very pleased that Harry had come to him instead of Minerva.

Ron nodded and left. As he trotted back he furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance. Snape had called Harry by his first name, something he had never done before.

* * *

Severus seated Harry in his office chair and told the boy to try and control his breathing by counting down every breath he takes from 20 while he would go off and find a Calming Draught potion. Harry's breathing had already gotten considerably better now that he was in his company but the boy was now crying buckets and Severus had no clue what to do. Not surprisingly, he did not have much experience in this sort of thing. Dammit, the boy was one day away from being taken to the Dursleys again, so who was going to be there if he would get a nightmare there? He found the Calming Draught and handed it to Harry.

"Drink this, Harry." Severus said as soothingly as his voice would allow.

Harry felt so pathetic sitting there and crying in his Professor's chair, but his tears wouldn't stop coming. He just kept remembering that look of disgust that his father had on him when he had opened the cupboard doors. "It was just a dream" he kept repeating in his head, but to no use. When Snape handed him the vial with the potion he gulped it down at once. He suddenly felt a bit better, his crying was ceasing and he felt a bit more relaxed.

"Would you like to tell me what your dream was about?" Severus asked carefully. He didn't want to force the boy to talk, but he knew that he would feel better if he did.

"I..I was back in my cupboard and my.. my father was staring at me. He kept telling me how disappointing I am and that he regrets dying for me because I turned out like this." Harry let out a sniffle. "And my mother, she told him to stop, she stood up for me just like she stood up for you all those years. And then, I don't know what happened but my father started saying how he didn't want you as godfather and that my mother had better fix this. When she said that she wouldn't, he dragged me out of my cupboard and made me watch as he beat her up. I couldn't do anything! I was glued to the spot." Harry stuttered. The pain of the dream was coming back but at least the Calming Draught kept him from sobbing out loud. After what he found out about his father's personality from the previous day, the image he had of him had completely changed.

Severus took in a sharp breath. This was his fault. He shouldn't have shown him what his father did to him. That completely ruined the boy's vision of what his father was like. That was not Severus' intention at all. Harry was simply too young to see something like this already. Well, it was too late for that now. But how could he reassure the boy that James was definitely not like this towards Lily? A pang of guilt hit him as he prepared his answer to Harry.

"That is terrible. But Harry, I assure you that James loved your mother very much. He would never have touched a hair on her body if she didn't want him to. James was only like this to me in school because he was terribly jealous of my close friendship with Lily. I swear to you that nothing that happened in your dream depicted an accurate image of James. He loved you as much as Lily did. He was a good man." Severus said the last part through gritted teeth. He had never in a million years pictured himself saying anything like that about James. He resisted the urge to snort at himself because of the irony.

"You aren't just saying that?" Harry said innocently.

"No I am not just saying that. I would not say something like that unless I truly meant it." Severus said.

Harry felt a warm feeling of relief spread through him. Maybe his father was only like that in his teenage years. However, it would take a lot for Harry to view his father in the same way as he did before. His muscles relaxed and he smiled at his Professor.

"Sorry for waking you up like that. Thank you, sir." Harry sad quietly with a little embarrassment in his still wet and now very red face.

"No problem, Harry. You can and hopefully will always come to me when something like this happens in the future." Severus said firmly as if he was talking to one of his students.

Harry was dreading his return to his bed. He feared having another nightmare and he was not willing to wake Snape up again if it did happen. He also didn't want to face Ron, he was scared that Ron would make fun of him for his nightmare and taunt him for wanting to see Snape.

Severus could see something was bothering Harry, he saw it in his emerald eyes. "Is there something bothering you?"

"No sir, I mean I am just a bit worried in case I have another nightmare." Harry said resigning himself to the fact that even if he did lie, his Professor would surely know. He was, after all, a mage with talents in Occlumency and Legilimency.

Severus was happy that Harry had just told him rather than lying. "Would you prefer to stay in my quarters for the night so that if you do have a bad dream, you won't have to wake up the others in your dormitory?" Severus said knowing exactly what to say to make Harry agree.

"I think that would be good, just for this night." Harry agreed, happy that Snape had figured out exactly what he wanted so quickly.

Severus let the corner of his lip slide upwards, it was one of his smiles where no one knew that he was smiling except for himself. He started walking towards the little hidden door in the familiar corner of his office and Harry followed. When they got into his quarters, Severus transfigured the couch in the corner of the room to a decently sized bed and he turned the blanket on top into a warm and thick duvet. He motioned for Harry to get into bed and the boy did.

Harry's eyes had a strong look of gratefulness that Snape was easily able to catch. "Goodnight sir, for the second time this night." Harry said sarcastically.

"Indeed. Have a better dream than the last. Goodnight." Severus said swiftly. "If you need or want anything, do not hesitate to come into my room and to wake me." He then walked into the door on the left and got back into his still warm bed.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Sorry that it took a while for me to publish this. Reviews please!


	9. Chapter 9

Harry woke up to the smell of fresh toast and eggs. In a flash the memories from the previous night came back to him and when he realised where he was, he inwardly cringed. He had shown so much weakness to Snape, he was still getting used to being around the man in the first place. Harry actually felt quite embarrassed and started making his way over to the dining table which was filled with a scrumptious looking breakfast. He was just wondering what time it was while waiting for Snape, when his godfather came through the door that had the long corridor to his office behind it. He looked quite relaxed despite the little amount of sleep he had gotten on Harry's behalf.

"Good morning, sir." Harry said. Severus could see the boy's humiliation, and he assumed it was because of the reason why Harry had spent the night in his quarters.

"Morning. What are you waiting for? Go ahead and eat. Considering that today is your last full day at Hogwarts, I assume you would want to spend some time with Mister Weasley and Miss Granger." Snape said hastily. He knew that the boy would want to get out of here as soon as possible, so he gave him an easy way out.

"Yes, sir." Harry saw the look of understanding in Snape's dark eyes which he had also noticed the night before.

Severus went over and sat down with Harry at the dining table. He summoned an extra strong cup of coffee, of which he took a sip and started eating. Harry began eating too once Severus had taken his first bite. Severus was happy at this because it showed the respect the boy now had for him.

"I will pick you up from the Dursley's on the 20th of July at 1 pm. You can assume that I will be on time, as always. Have your things packed in your trunk by that time and we will then proceed to apparate to the Prince's Manor, which is where we will stay for the rest of summer. I have already started preparing a training schedule which I will have ready when I collect you." Severus said firmly.

"Okay, sounds good, sir. Where is the Prince's Manor?" Harry asked.

"It is located in the countryside in Hampshire, which is not too far from London." Severus informed him.

Harry and Severus continued eating in a surprisingly comfortable silence. When Harry finished, he stayed seated in his chair until Snape realised he was finished. Harry thought it would be rude to just get up and leave, and he did not want to do anything that might offend him, at all costs.

"You may leave, I expect your friends to still be at breakfast." Severus said, giving Harry the green light to leave.

"Thank you for breakfast, sir." Harry said while getting up, he didn't know what else to say. It was sort of awkward for him but Snape didn't look bothered at all, he just seemed calm. He made his way to the door and he strolled through the long, narrow corridor leading to his Professor's office. He then walked up the stairs and went into the Great Hall. He spotted Hermione and Ron sitting together, it seemed like they were in a heated discussion. Harry really wanted to solve his argument with Ron, he did not want to wait for at least a month to know they were on good terms again. So, he made his way to where they were sitting and sat down in front of them.

* * *

"Hey. Sorry for last night, Ron. I didn't mean to wake you." Harry said gently.

"It's okay, mate. I am sorry for acting like a twat about what you found out the other day. I was being selfish." Ron said trying to put some regret in his voice. In reality, he still didn't like this whole situation at all, but after last night he realised that Harry must really want this, and he was not going to try and stop him. His best friend needed all the support he could get right now.

"It's all good. It was a lot to take in at once." Harry chuckled after he said that followed by a snort that Ron let out. Hermione just sat there quietly.

"What's up, Hermione?" Harry asked sensing something was wrong with her.

"She's upset about leaving Hogwarts for the summer, she says she's always terribly bored without any study or work to do." Ron said, with a sarcastic tone in the last part even though it was the truth.

"Won't you miss Hogwarts, Harry?" Hermione said trying to redeem herself from Ron's comment.

"Of course I will miss Hogwarts but you are insane to miss the study and homework." Harry said honestly.

Hermione just began picking at her food again and Ron started a new conversation about the upcoming Quidditch World Cup.

"You know, my father is doing his best to get tickets to the World Cup, it's Bulgaria vs. Ireland. It'll be a great match for sure. I'll ask my father if he can get you tickets too if you want!" Ron said sounding quite excited already even though it wasn't confirmed that he even had tickets yet.

"That would be wicked, Ron. When is it?" Harry said worriedly, he knew that if it was anywhere before July 20th, he would not be able to go.

"August 18th" Ron replied.

"I can probably go then, if you get tickets of course." Harry said happily. Watching professional Quidditch was something he had always wanted to do.

Ron smiled and then the trio got up to pack their things, by Hermione's advice, so they wouldn't have to do it later, or the next morning. Since the sun was shining and it was very warm outside they went and seated themselves under their favourite tree by the lake. The tree that Harry's father often sat under with his friends. Harry shuddered at the thought of his father which reminded him of the nightmare he had. The warmth of the sun on his skin, however, relaxed him. He leaned against the tree with his legs spread out in front of him. Hermione laid down with her head resting on Harry's thigh and Ron was lying down with his head on Hermione's stomach. The trio often spend hours like this, talking and giggling, never getting bored. They enjoyed having each other as support.

* * *

Minerva McGonagall was looking down on her three favourite Lions. She smiled at how they were using each other as pillows, lying on each other. She loved how they were unconditionally there for each other no matter what came up. The strong bond they shared consisted of complete loyalty. They were the model Gryffindors, they were a family. She had since found out about Harry's nightmare and was wondering to herself why he didn't come to her. It didn't make any sense to her that her Lion would go to Severus instead. She knew they hated each other, although Severus had not been on a rant to her about him in the past few days which was weird. Usually he would come every week to complain about something that Potter had done. Oh well, she would figure it out eventually. Maybe Harry just wanted a calming potion or something. Who knows.

* * *

The day went by in a blur. The Leaving Feast was amazing, the elves had really out done themselves this time. Harry was stuffed with mashed potato, chicken and a ridiculous amount of pudding that he was not ashamed of eating. Harry couldn't believe that another year had passed. Now he was completely dreading going back to the Dursley's he could even say that he felt panic creeping up inside. Harry was in his bed, listening to the breathing of his dorm-mates. He could tell every one of them apart just by their breathing rhythms. Harry could easily fall asleep listening to them. It always took him a while to get used to sleeping in a room by himself at the Dursley's. However, he was looking forward to when he would be picked up by Snape. He was super excited to start learning more about himself and his abilities, training would hopefully be very fun. He wondered how he and his godfather would get along. Would they end up hating each other after a week? He sure hoped not. Harry had so many thoughts but the need for sleep overwhelmed him. His breathing became softer and rhythmic and he slipped off into a deep sleep.

* * *

The next day Harry groggily got up and made his way down to his last breakfast at Hogwarts as a 3rd year. He sat with Hermione and Ron as usual and they ate mostly in silence. Each of them upset that they wouldn't see each other for a while. After eating they went up and got their trunks down from the common room. Soon they found themselves on the charmed carriages on the way to Hogsmeade station. They got into the Hogwarts Express in which Harry bought the whole trolley with a bag of money that he had found at the back of his trunk while he was packing. They opened chocolate frogs together and ate many different sorts of sweets for the entire duration of the ride. When they arrived they walked through the wall-disguised barrier and said their goodbyes. They were in a three person hug for a few seconds and then Harry stalked off hesitantly to find the Dursley's, if they had even come for him. He walked outside and found the Dursley's waiting impatiently for him outside. He assumed that they did not want to run into any of his kind. When Harry got into the car beside Dudley, who was using two seats, he noticed that something was off. The moment he saw his uncle again he saw something off in his eyes. There was an evil twinkle in Uncle Vernon's brown eyes. Harry literally felt fear when he looked at them. Aunt Petunia and Dudley were completely ignoring him but his uncle was looking toward him through the mirror, with a look of threat and menace. Harry gulped and sank down. He just hoped that his uncle would also start ignoring him. Any treatment was better than the look he was giving him, which made him feel like there was a very strong chance of imminent danger.

When they got to 4, Privet Drive, Harry rolled his trunk inside along with carrying Hedwig. He started heading towards the stairs but his uncle stopped him. "Oh no. I will not have you practice any of your freakish possessions under my roof." Vernon said with a certain edge to his tone that Harry had not ever heard. It made his stomach sink. His uncle put his trunk into his old cupboard and then looked at Harry again.

"Hand me the owl."

"No, she needs to go out and hunt, she will take care of herself. I promise she won't be a bother." Harry said with dread building up inside him. He was not taking Hedwig. That was too much, she couldn't be locked in a room for even a day!

"Hand. Me. The. Owl." Vernon said with a warning in his tone.

Harry needed to act quick, so without thinking of any consequences he quietly said "no" again and in a few swift motions he opened her cage and opened the house door again. Hedwig, being quite the smart owl already knew what was going on. She flew to Harry, nibbled on his nose affectionately and flew out the door. Harry closed the door and turned to his uncle who was now red in the face.

The vein on his neck which you could see so easily through the fat he had there was pulsing.

"I will NOT be DISRESPECTED in my house by something like you!" He yelled in frustration. That freak dares run away from us after we cared for him for all these years and now he was blatantly disrespecting his orders. He had enough of this nonsense and ungratefulness. But Vernon knew exactly what he was going to do now to make that disgusting excuse of a boy learn some respect. It was the only way.

* * *

To be continued!

* * *

Thanks for reading. I am trying to publish every second day, at the moment but sometimes I may miss a day. I would appreciate more reviews and thoughts about the story so far.


	10. Chapter 10

"I will NOT be DISRESPECTED in my house by something like you!" He yelled in frustration. That freak dares run away from us after we cared for him for all these years and now he was blatantly disrespecting his orders. He had enough of this nonsense and ungratefulness. But Vernon knew exactly what he was going to do now to make that disgusting excuse of a boy learn some respect. It was the only way.

* * *

Harry's whole body was pulsing with pain. He could smell his own blood and sweat as he lay on the ground in his room. He didn't have the strength to get up into his bed, both mentally and physically. He just laid there with streams of tears coming out of his eyes, however he wasn't moving or making any sound. He couldn't. Harry was sure he had a huge bruise under his right eye. He could feel blood coming from his nose and from the side of his head. The parts of his body that hurt the most were the sides of his back. His uncle had repeatedly kicked him there, Harry could only remember dipping into and out of consciousness. Every time he would become conscious again he would be knocked out because of another kick or punch. The pain was too much for his body to handle. When his uncle had finally stopped beating him he could vaguely remember being pulled up the stairs and kicked into the room with another blow to his back.

Harry used the last of his strength to haul himself into a crawling position and drag himself to his bed. He let himself drop onto his bed and felt a pain which was worse than the beatings shoot up the side of his back. He let out a weak groan and fell asleep to get away from the pain for a while. His dream was about the Prince's Manor and seeing Snape again. He longed for the man more than anything right now. For some reason his presence was very comforting, Harry found that out on the night two days ago when he had his nightmare. As he was dreaming of the summer with his godfather, his muscles relaxed in his sleep. And although Harry would probably not admit it, he felt safe with the thought of being with Snape soon.

* * *

The Prince Manor was still surprisingly intact, Severus had spent most of that day using different cleaning and reversal spells to get rid of the mess that was on the floor. The Manor still had the huge library with hundreds of old books about many different things. Severus remembered himself being intrigued at the huge library when he visited the house in his childhood with his grandmother. His grandmother and himself shared a very special bond. She was always there for him when he was young until her death when he was eight. She helped him through his father's abuse while she was still alive. Severus doesn't know what he would have done without her.

At this point Severus was wondering what else to do to design and decorate Harry's room with. It was a decently sized room with a double bed at the back of the left wall. He had put a big desk to the far right of his bed, the boy would need it this summer since Severus intended on boosting Harry's Potions skills, he planned on assigning Harry an essay a week. Severus hung huge drapes of red and gold along the ceiling and walls, he thought Harry might appreciate that. He put a little shelf beside Harry's bed with the few pictures that he had of Lily. He allowed the familiar feeling of longing he had for Lily come back to him for a few seconds.

He was happy that Nibby was here, even though she was a house elf, she was still good company. She could never stop talking. Despite that she was really helpful, house elves knew more about housekeeping and cleaning magic than any wizard. The next day he would focus on setting up a training area for Harry, he did have a lot of garden land to work with. The house was literally in the middle of nowhere so he had all the space he needed. There were also very old shields and protective magic surrounding the house, muggles couldn't find it and Severus had cast a Fidelius Charm with himself as secret keeper, so he would definitely not be disturbed.

* * *

Harry awoke late in the morning. He didn't get much sleep at all because he kept waking up due to the pain on his back. Harry assumed that his uncle would completely ignore him now just like Petunia and Dudley had in the car. He was quite wrong. He could hear his uncle yell his name. He slid off of his bed and started stalking down the stairs. He tried to keep his back as straight as possible to reduce pain.

"Today, you will sweep, hoover and mop the kitchen and dining area. Don't dare leave a speck of dust, boy, or I will show you what an actual punishment is. Last night was nothing." His uncle said with malice in his tone.

Harry gulped when his uncle said that last night was nothing. He didn't think a beating could get much worse. "Yes, uncle" Harry said powerlessly. He knew he couldn't do anything about the situation he was in. He had to endure this for at least a month. Probably more if Snape decided he didn't want him anymore. Harry forgot to ask about breakfast, but he assumed that he would not be eating for quite some time.

With that, his uncle walked away and started watching TV in the living room with Dudley. For some reason Dudley was staring at Harry. He thought he could see a look of sympathy in his cousins eyes. Odd. Harry made his way to his old cupboard, which was where the house keeping items were kept and then he started sweeping. It was the afternoon by the time he was finished. It took so long because he swept the place three or four extra times to make sure that there was no dust or dirt at all. It hurt quite a bit to sweep but what could happen if it wasn't cleaned properly would probably be worse. His stomach was openly complaining now, he was very hungry but he didn't dare take food unless he was given some. He needed to do everything to avoid another beating.

* * *

Severus and Nibby were trying their best to cut down the ridiculously long grass that had grown over the years. Severus at first used Sectumsempra to trim the grass to a reasonable height and then Nibby used elfish magic to cut it down even more. They worked well together and soon the grass was completely cut down to where it should be. The house looked a lot nicer with the grass beside it at a normal height. Next he went up to the library to sort out the books. He used a couple of Accio charms to summon all of the different categories into different piles. He had two main piles, old Potions books and Dark Magic books. He made sections and soon everything was neatly organised. He put the Dark Magic books up to the highest shelves so that Harry could never reach them. He would also warn the boy upon showing him the library that he is never to touch those books. It will be a test to his insufferable Gryffindor curiosity.

Another thing that Severus did with the library was add a huge desk right behind the even bigger window. Beside his big desk, he placed a smaller desk which was meant for Harry. This way they could both learn to work together. And hopefully the silences the two share in the future will be less awkward because they will be used to it.

Severus found himself really looking forward to having the boy over. He was going to look into visiting him once, just to see how he is doing. He ought to ask Harry what date he would like for Severus to come over, so he wrote a quick letter asking Harry if he would want him to visit and when. He gave the letter to his owl, whose feathers were completely black and sent it off after giving it some extra water and food.

* * *

A few days later Harry was still following the same routine as his first day. He now had to do chores that didn't even need to be done. He had to clean the floor every day and his uncle took out every piece of clothing that they owned (which is a lot) and made him iron and fold them every day. It was his fifth day without any food in his system. He had been drinking a lot of water from the tap in the bathroom to keep himself hydrated and his stomach occupied. He was starting to noticeably lose weight and any muscle that he had gained from Quidditch. He started wondering why accidental magic didn't save him on the day of his beating, when he was at Hogwarts his accidental magic had managed to explode things just from him feeling angry.

When Harry had finished his chores for the day he went to his room and got into his bed. He curled into a ball and cried soundlessly into his pillow because of the pain in his stomach from the hunger he felt. It felt like there was a knot in there and it was getting pulled tighter by the minute. It was a different kind of pain. He had already lost all hope of getting food until something quite unexpected happened.

There was a soft knock on his door. He went over and opened it to see Dudley standing there, looking kind of embarrassed. He was holding a plate with bread and some butter.

"I.. I just thought you might be hungry." Dudley said having that weird look of sympathy in his eyes which Harry was not accustomed to. He handed Harry the plate and started walking away to his room on the other side of the hallway.

"Thank you." Harry called after his cousin. This was a miracle. Harry wasted no more time, he sat down on his bed and started eating the food he was given. It was the best bread he had ever tasted, probably because he hadn't eaten in so long. The plate was empty within a minute and Harry was satisfied, although he thought that he probably should have rationed the little food he had.

Having some food in his stomach for the first time in around five days made Harry very tired. He drifted off into sleep and had the dream that he so often experienced, how life would be like at the Prince's Manor. That dream gave him motivation to keep going and staying strong. It reminded him that being at the Dursley's was not permanent and soon he would be with someone who really wants him. The person who his mother wanted him to be with.

* * *

Thank you for reading, sorry that this chapter is kind of short.


	11. Chapter 11

Harry woke up with a start. All he could hear was his uncle bellowing his name. He quickly got dressed and stumbled down the stairs. Harry smiled at the fact that he had woken up without pain in his stomach. He still couldn't quite understand what had led Dudley to bring him some food. Was it out of sheer sympathy or was it something else? Maybe there was a little good in him. Harry did however know that he would be forever grateful towards his cousin for stepping up like that.

"Explain to me why some freak is sending you a note about visiting. You will not have any of your freakish people come anywhere near my home." Vernon said with an edge to his tone. He despised anything or anyone magical and had enough of those freakish people dressed in those disgusting pieces of clothing show up on his doorstep. It was enough that he had to 'take care' of one of them, having them show up whenever they wanted was just not okay in his books. Ungrateful folk.

"That is my note!" Harry said sharply when he saw Snape's familiar handwriting. A great warmth spread through him, Snape actually wanted to come and visit him! His uncle was taking something away from him which meant so much to him that he didn't care if he got beat again as long as he got that note.

"Not anymore." Vernon said, enjoying seeing the boy so distraught. He enjoyed having full control of this situation since he had something that Harry wanted so badly. Too bad it wasn't going to happen like that boy wanted.

"Have it your way then. He's coming to collect me soon anyways." Harry said and started making his way to the stairs, he felt triumph because he took the upper hand in the conversation away from his uncle. Maybe Snape would get suspicious and come to check on him if he got no reply.

That idea was quickly destroyed with what his uncle said next. "Come back here, boy. You will write a note back to him saying that he can't come for a visit until at least the end of July. After all, the chores you have been doing are reducing the work that Petunia does." said Vernon with a sneer to his voice. He could make the boy do whatever he wanted and he couldn't do anything about it.

"And if I don't?" Harry said using the last bit of courage he could muster up. "He is coming for me anyways at the end of July." Harry replied quickly when he saw his uncle's expression darken considerably.

"I don't think you would want to live to feel what happens if you don't." Vernon threatened, knowing that the boy would follow his orders as soon as he said that.

Harry gulped and nodded in resignation. But he quickly developed an idea. He was going to send a message to Snape that he was in danger, he just hoped that his uncle wouldn't question or somehow find out what he was going to do. Harry was going to use his uncle's lack of knowledge of the wizarding world to his advantage. He watched as his uncle got out a piece of paper and a pen. He practically shoved Harry towards the small table in front of the couch in the living room. Harry sat down and started writing, his uncle had a close eye on every word he wrote.

 _Dear Professor Snape,_

 _I got your note, I don't think you should come over for a visit, it is kind of refreshing to stay away from the wizarding world for a bit every year. I need time for myself after everything that happened that this year. Don't take it personally._

 _Periculum,_

 _Harry_

Harry really hoped that the word/spell Periculum would send Snape the message that he was in danger. In Defense Against the Dark Arts this year, Lupin taught the class this spell in case they were ever lost or in danger. It would basically send red sparks to the air and hover over the person who cast it, making it easy for people to find the caster. The spell literally means "in great risk or danger" which was what Harry hoped Snape would see it as. He looked up at Uncle Vernon once he signed off with his name, hoping that he would be able to trick him into believing a false meaning of the Periculum.

"What does 'Perculm' mean? Don't dare send your freak friends any hidden messages." Vernon said suspiciously. Harry had to bite back a laugh at how his uncle said Periculum.

"It is a way of signing off letters for wizards, it is like saying 'Yours truly' or 'Kind regards'. It would look odd if I didn't put that in." Harry said as convincingly as possible. He could see that his uncle was mulling this over in his head and eventually he accepted it. He probably thought that Harry was too scared of him to lie.

"Give the note to that dammed owl and go back to your room. I don't want to hear any kind of noise from you."

Harry proceeded to make his way over to what he guessed was Snape's personal owl. It pecked at his fingers and cheek affectionately before Harry gave it the note. It flew off through the open window in the kitchen which made Petunia scream since she didn't hear the conversation that her husband and the Harry had. She definitely was not expecting a black owl to swoosh through while she was cooking. Harry giggled when he saw Petunia's panic. The owl even dropped some of its feathers around the kitchen. He then made his way back to his room and felt a rush of euphoria. He was sure his godfather would come soon. As the day dragged on Harry could feel his stomach rumble again. He hoped that the owl would get to Hogwarts quickly so that he wouldn't have to get back to the stage of starving. Dudley may have found some sympathy in himself yesterday, but Harry knew he couldn't rely on that questionable sympathy for food in the days ahead.

* * *

A few days had passed and Harry had still not been given any food. He felt like the pain in his stomach was now much worse than it had been before he got food the last time. He was still losing weight by the day. He knew that the owl would be delayed since the weather had been terrible with really strong winds and rain since he sent the owl back. Harry felt desperate for food, so he made a plan to get something to eat when the Dursley's had fallen asleep. He was no other option, he couldn't take the pain in his stomach anymore.

That night when Harry could hear the loud snoring of his uncle he crept downstairs as silently as he could. He opened the fridge and took out some cheese and butter. He found the bread in the pantry where it always was and made himself a decently sized sandwich. He also grabbed an apple from the dining table where all of the fruit was kept in a huge bowl. On the way out of the kitchen he saw a gleam of something behind a flower pot on the fireplace's mantlepiece. His Gryffindor-like curiosity got the better of him and he went to see what was there. When he looked behind the flowerpot, he realised that it was the key to his old cupboard. The key to where all of his magical things were kept..

Harry couldn't resist. How easy would things be if he had his invisibility cloak? He grabbed the silver key and made his way over to the very familiar cupboard and opened it and carefully. He placed his trunk on the ground with a thud so that he could open and access the contents easily. He cringed when he heard the rather loud noise that he made when putting his trunk down but assumed he would be fine, everyone was fast asleep and his uncle doesn't wake up too easily. He could feel adrenaline pump through him as he quickly rummaged through his trunk full of everything that he owned. He found his cloak and pulled it out, some other things also flew out but he didn't care. He picked up his sandwich from the ground and was about to put his invisibility cloak on when someone grabbed him from behind and pushed him hard to the floor. In that moment he knew that once again, his curiosity had let him down.

"And what do you think you are doing?" Vernon said intensely. He also felt a certain elation, he was literally looking for reasons to hurt the freak again. Now he has one. He heard Harry gasp as he watched him fall to the floor.

Harry couldn't remember much. All he could recall was his uncle punching him in the head twice followed by many hard kicks to his back, which hurt incredibly since the previous bruises were in their last stages of healing. While this happened he curled into a ball and then passed out, once again, from the pain.

* * *

Severus got the letter from Harry early in the morning. His owl had pecked at him in his sleep until he finally opened the note. When he read that Harry didn't want to be visited, he knew something was off. But once Severus read the word "Periculum" he felt somewhat of an outburst happen inside of him. He understood straight away what Harry had meant by putting in the word Periculum. The boy was smart, he could give him that. Then, Severus practically leaped out of bed, slipped into a pair of shoes and apparated to 4 Privet Drive, still being in his night gown. He growled in frustration at his clumsiness of not changing and transfigured it to a simple, black, wizarding robe. He knocked on the door as vehemently as possible but when no one opened up he assumed the reason to be that it was still very early. He thought it was only about 6am. Therefore, he let himself in, not willing to wait any second longer to know if Harry was okay. He swiftly and quietly made his way up the stairs to check which room Harry was in. The first room he opened was the bathroom, then he opened another door and was immediately horrified. His godson was laying there unconsciously, covered in blood. Harry's arm seemed to be twisted in an impossible angle. His whole body filled with a ferocious anger at the Dursley's.

* * *

I am going to try to make chapters a bit longer after this one. I have been caught in a hurricane for all of today so I didn't have too much time to make this chapter much longer. This story will start to pick up its pace in the next few chapters. Thanks for reading.


	12. Chapter 12

Severus got the letter from Harry early in the morning. His owl had pecked at him in his sleep until he finally opened the note. When he read that Harry didn't want to be visited, he knew something was off. But once Severus read the word "Periculum" he felt somewhat of an outburst happen inside of him. He understood straight away what Harry had meant by putting in the word Periculum. The boy was smart, he could give him that. Then, Severus practically leaped out of bed, slipped into a pair of shoes and apparated to 4 Privet Drive, still being in his night gown. He growled in frustration at his clumsiness of not changing and transfigured it to a simple, black, wizarding robe. He knocked on the door as vehemently as possible but when no one opened up he assumed the reason to be that it was still very early. He thought it was only about 6am. Therefore, he let himself in, not willing to wait any second longer to know if Harry was okay. He swiftly and quietly made his way up the stairs to check which room Harry was in. The first room he opened was the bathroom, then he opened another door and was immediately horrified. His godson was laying there unconsciously, covered in blood. Harry's arm seemed to be twisted in an impossible angle. His whole body filled with a ferocious anger at the Dursley's.

* * *

Severus immediately dropped himself next to Harry. His hands were shaking because of the sight but since he had been in horrific and unpredicted situations a lot, he was able to push all emotion away so he could prioritize on healing Harry's bigger wounds. He was after all a spy for the greatest dark wizard of all time, he could keep his cool quite easily even when his insides were screaming. Severus began analysing Harry's injuries, with a flick of his wand Harry's very oversized shirt disappeared and to his horror, Severus saw that the boy had huge black and blue bruises which were fresh on his back and he could also see some older bruises that were fading from a yellow and brownish colour. There wasn't much that Severus could do about the bruises, to his frustration. Next he looked at Harry's arm which was definitely broken, he used the fact that the boy was unconscious to his advantage and muttered " _Brackium Emendo_ " which was a bone mending charm, the spell would have been quite painful if Harry had been conscious. He watched as the spell took its effect, his arm twisted and aligned itself properly with a crack that Severus had wished he hadn't heard. Next, he took to healing the cuts on Harry's arm.

"What.. what's going on?" said a very weak voice coming from Harry. All he could see was Snape moving his wand over him, muttering spells that he had never heard before. In a rush the memories came back to him and he started breathing very quickly.

"Harry, I require you to calm yourself. Breathe in - breathe out. Good. I give you my word that you will be safe shortly." Severus watched as Harry quickly started becoming aware of what was happening, he could see the panic in the boy's eyes. He mentally cursed the Dursley's. He had to, however, make sure that Harry was safe before coming back to show the Dursley's exactly what he thought of them. Part of the reason why Severus felt so indignant about the Dursley's treatment of Harry was because he quickly realised how similar his childhood had been. He remembered the times when he would lie in his room like a person who had lost his soul because of the pain that his father had caused him. When Severus was about to apparate out, he heard loud thumps coming towards him, which could only be one of those blasted muggles. He held his wand a bit tighter.

"GET OUT OF-" Vernon started bellowing before he got cut off.

"I suggest that that you stop right there. This will not be the last you see of me, Dursley. I am taking Harry, you will never see him, or lay a finger on him, ever again." Severus said with a dangerous calm in his voice. He had to get Harry out of here, he couldn't waste any more time in getting Harry to Madame Pomfrey. He knew that she lived in Hogwarts all year round along with a few of the teachers. Harry meanwhile passed out again, which was a relief for Severus.

"Great news, we never agreed to take in that freak anyways." Vernon said ignoring the threat that Severus had uttered.

With that, Severus scooped Harry into his arms (he felt quite uncomfortable doing so, he had never been big on physical contact with anyone) and apparated straight into his living quarters in Hogwarts. That was the only place he could apparate to within the wards of Hogwarts.

Vernon stood there, gobsmacked at the magic performance right in front of his eyes. "These people always have to be so dramatic about their entrances and exits." Vernon grumbled, thinking about flying cars, people coming through his fireplace and of owls whooshing through his house along with other visual effects of the way wizards get by.

* * *

Severus was panting by the time he had arrived at the infirmary. It was quite a tiring walk from the dungeons all the way to the infirmary. Ironically, Madame Pomfrey had been in her office making a list of potions that she needed from Severus for the coming school year. He had always complained that she had given him the list with next to no time to find ingredients and actually brew the potions. He hastily put Harry down on one of the beds when Madame Pomfrey walked out of her office as she thought that she had heard something.

"What in the name of Merlin happened, Severus?" she gasped when she saw the condition that Harry was in.

"Those muggles which he had been living with inflicted this upon him. I attempted to heal the more major injuries upon seeing his condition." Severus said coldly. He couldn't wait for when he would return to the Dursley family to acquire some form of revenge. Severus silently wondered when he had become so protective of the boy. He didn't want to get too attached, even if Harry was meant to be his godson. The last time he got so attached to someone, it had basically ruined his life. He told himself that he would do his best to be the person Harry could trust and talk to but also remain at a distance. He needed to do that, for Harry needed to focus completely on his training. He may have all of those abilities, but they would never develop unless he put the work in. That was when Severus remembered that the reason why Harry had this mental barrier on his magical abilities was because of the Dursley's. They had probably made the situation a whole lot worse for Harry by doing what they did to him.

Severus watched as his colleague pulled out her wand and started muttering all different kinds of incantations. He assumed that she was trying to analyse Harry's body and figure out what needed to be done. Firstly, she cast some spells on Harry's arm that made sure the bones would stay intact, the spells made them stronger. "This should leave Harry without pain and with full function of his arm again." She gently turned Harry around onto his stomach and let out a spluttering noise when she saw the bruises on his back.

"I am going to curse Albus into oblivion!"

"I shall join you on that. I am interested to see how he can explain himself, insisting that Harry lives with these muggles. Those damned blood wards were never working effectively, and Harry did not view the Dursley's living area as home." Severus didn't know exactly why he was ranting to her about it, but he knew he had to tell someone.

Madame Pomfrey just shook her head and tried to push her anger aside. She had grown to care for the boy, he did have many visits in her Infirmary. At this point she was expecting something scandalous to happen at the end of each year which would leave Harry in the Infirmary.

"Unfortunately I can't do much for the bruises, the tissue has to heal by itself. But I will supply you with a bunch of pain-relief potions that target bruised tissue. I may have accidentally asked for a bigger number of those potions than I needed last year." She said while turning Harry back around.

Severus sighed. He had spent hours the night before school had started last year making those blasted potions. Oh well, they will come in handy now. Madame Pomfrey handed him a case full of the potions and pulled out a chair for him to sit and monitor Harry. She then went back into her office and started writing a report on Harry's injuries.

Soon after, Harry had woken up and was filled in on what had occurred in the past few hours. He had a throbbing pain in his back and he shifted onto his side as soon as he had woken up and felt the pain from the bruises. He was relieved that he was no longer at the Dursley's. There was no way that he would have survived another two weeks there. He also took comfort in that Snape had been there when he had woken up. He had been given a pain relief potion that didn't have too bad of a taste which had helped with his back and a nutrient potion which tasted like a bunch of vegetables and leaves mixed together, he resisted the urge to spit it out after seeing the stern look on Snape's face.

"Sir, what exactly will happen now?" Harry said fearing the worst. He dreaded the possibility of being sent back to his Aunt and Uncle, even though Snape had told him that he wouldn't do that.

"I gave you my word when I found you, you will not, ever, be returning to the Dursley's. The Headmaster is currently travelling so I have not been able to report the events of yesterday to him yet. Therefore, as I am your godfather, I have decided that it is best for us to go to the Prince's Manor. We will travel there tomorrow by apparition. Is that acceptable to you?"

"Yes, sir." Harry said trying to contain his emotions of excitement, relief and eagerness. He offered Snape a smile, who in turn lifted the corner of his mouth a little.

* * *

The next day, when Harry had eaten breakfast, himself and Severus walked down to his quarters. Severus assumed that Harry would probably not remember apparating since he was unconscious at the time.

"Have you ever experienced side-long apparition?"

"No, sir, not before last night but I can't remember that so I guess it doesn't count. Why?"

"Many people throw up on their first time apparating, to say the least. Some even pass out. Do you have motion sickness?"

"I don't know, sir. I haven't been in cars much or anything to find out. What does it feel like?"

"It feels like you get sucked into a small bottle and then squeezed out on the other end. You will grip my arm and then tell me when you are ready, do not let go of my arm under any circumstances or Merlin knows where you will end up."

Harry nodded and gripped Snape's arm. It felt muscly and strong. Hesitantly Harry said the words "I'm ready". Harry felt like his insides were being pushed outside of him and he felt like he was spinning at hundreds of miles an hour. The sensation lasted for about five seconds. He found himself standing on grass, he felt nauseous and dizzy. Unknowingly, he was still gripping Snape's arm very tightly.

"Careful, Potter, you don't want to cut off the blood supply to my hand completely." Severus said dryly.

Harry cringed at being called Potter and instantly let go of Snape's arm. "Sorry, sir." Harry reddened a little. Only then did he look up and see the beautiful house in front of him. It wasn't a mansion, by any means, but it was still huge. The house was located in the middle of a field, Harry couldn't see any other buildings around. In fact, he couldn't see anything but trees surrounding the house. He loved it and was eager to explore the inside.

"Follow me and do not wander off."

Harry wished that Snape would be a little more open and choose words that didn't always sound like a robot was talking for him. He was almost jogging alongside Severus as he walked his usual long and graceful strides. As they were nearing the Manor, Harry smiled to himself. Finally he would have a home. And best of all, he knew that he would never have to see the Dursley's ever again. At least something good had come from all of the pain he had endured.

* * *

Sorry that I took so long to post a new chapter. I have just needed a bit of a break, but I am ready to start writing again. Thanks for reading this chapter, as always, reviews are appreciated!


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